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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:09:11 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:09:11 -0700 |
| commit | a4b0e36a11361645f517d03e911045beef1c0d9f (patch) | |
| tree | 17d89e5294b22193cb22626d5f8c6dff9aceaba6 /37958-h | |
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diff --git a/37958-h/37958-h.htm b/37958-h/37958-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c4e32b --- /dev/null +++ b/37958-h/37958-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8835 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> +<HTML><HEAD> + <meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8"> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> + <title> + Stones Of The Temple, by Walter Field, M.A., F.S.A.. A Project Gutenberg eBook + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} +.dropcap { + LINE-HEIGHT: 83%; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; FLOAT: left; FONT-SIZE: 250% +} + +.smaller {font-size:small;} + +.larger {font-size:large;} + +.padtop {margin-top:4em;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +blockquote { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.sidenote { + width: 30%; + margin-left: 1em; + float: right; + clear: right; +} +.noter { + margin-left:60%; + margin-right:2%; + text-align: left; +} +.noterlong { + margin-left:40%; + margin-right:2%; + text-align: left; +} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px; + padding: 3em; + margin-top: 2em; + +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + margin-top: 4em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 0; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + .poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i11 {display: block; margin-left: 11em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i14 {display: block; margin-left: 14em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i3 {display: block; margin-left: 3em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i5 {display: block; margin-left: 5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i6 {display: block; margin-left: 6em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i7 {display: block; margin-left: 7em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.centpoem {text-align: center; max-width: 32em; margin: auto;} +.centpoem .centstanza {text-align: center; margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stones of the Temple, by Walter Field + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Stones of the Temple + Lessons from the Fabric and Furniture of the Church + +Author: Walter Field + +Release Date: November 9, 2011 [EBook #37958] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STONES OF THE TEMPLE *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Hazel Batey and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +This E text uses UTF-8 (unicode) file encoding. If the apostrophes, +quotation marks and greek text [ἀπολύτρωσις] in this paragraph appear as garbage, you may +have an incompatible browser or unavailable fonts. First, make sure +that your browser’s “character set” or “file encoding” is set to +Unicode (UTF-8). You may also need to change the default font. + + + + +<h1> STONES OF THE TEMPLE</h1> + + + + +<p class='padtop larger center'> R I V I N G T O N S</p> + + +<p class='larger'> <span style="margin-left: 5em;">London <span class="sidenote"><i>Waterloo Place</i></span><br> + +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Oxford <span class="sidenote"><i>High Street</i></span></span><br> + +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Cambridge <span class="sidenote"><i>Trinity Street</i></span></span></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<img src="images/illus003.jpg" width="351" height="614" alt="STONES OF THE TEMPLE" title=""></div> + +<p class='padtop larger center'><b>STONES OF THE TEMPLE</b></p> +<p class='padtop smaller center'>or</p> +<p class='padtop smaller center'><b>Lessons from the fabric and furniture<br> +of the Church</b></p> + +<p class='padtop smaller center'>By WALTER FIELD, M.A., F.S.A.</p> + + +<p class='padtop smaller center'><b>RIVINGTONS<br> +London, Oxford, and Cambridge<br> +1871</b></p><br> + + + +<div class="centpoem"><div class="centstanza"> +</div><div class="centstanza"> +"When it pleased God to raise up kings and emperors favouring sincerely<br> +the Christian truth, that which the Church before either could not or<br> +durst not do, was with all alacrity performed. Temples were in<br> +all places erected, no cost was spared: nothing judged too<br> +dear which that way should be spent. The whole world did<br> +seem to exult, that it had occasion of pouring out gifts<br> +to so blessed a purpose. That cheerful devotion which<br> +David did this way exceedingly delight to behold,<br> +and wish that the same in the Jewish people<br> +might be perpetual, was then in Christian<br> +people every where to be seen.<br> +So far as our Churches and their<br> +Temple have one end, what<br> +should let but that they<br> +may lawfully have one<br> +form?"—<i>Hooker's</i><br> +<i>"Ecclesiastical</i><br> +<i>Polity."</i><br> +<span class='larger'>✠</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +</div></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE.</a></td><td align="right"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><i>Chap.</i></td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><i>Page</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td><td align="left">THE LICH-GATE</td><td align="right">1</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td><td align="left">LICH-STONES</td><td align="right">11</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td><td align="left">GRAVE-STONES</td><td align="right">19</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td><td align="left">GRAVE-STONES</td><td align="right">31</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td><td align="left">THE PORCH</td><td align="right">43</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td><td align="left">THE PORCH</td><td align="right">51</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td><td align="left">THE PAVEMENT</td><td align="right">63</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td><td align="left">THE PAVEMENT</td><td align="right">73</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td><td align="left">THE PAVEMENT</td><td align="right">81</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></td><td align="left">THE PAVEMENT</td><td align="right">91</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></td><td align="left">THE WALLS</td><td align="right">103</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></td><td align="left">THE WALLS</td><td align="right">111</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a></td><td align="left">THE WINDOWS</td><td align="right">123</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a></td><td align="left">A LOOSE STONE IN THE BUILDING</td><td align="right">145</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a></td><td align="left">THE FONT</td><td align="right">155</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI.</a></td><td align="left">THE PULPIT</td><td align="right">167</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII.</a></td><td align="left">THE PULPIT</td><td align="right">175</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII.</a></td><td align="left">THE NAVE</td><td align="right">187</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX.</a></td><td align="left">THE NAVE</td><td align="right">197</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">XX.</a></td><td align="left">THE AISLES</td><td align="right">209</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">XXI.</a></td><td align="left">THE TRANSEPTS</td><td align="right">217</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">XXII.</a></td><td align="left">THE CHANCEL-SCREEN</td><td align="right">225</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">XXIII.</a></td><td align="left">THE CHANCEL</td><td align="right">235</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">XXIV.</a></td><td align="left">THE ALTAR</td><td align="right">245</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">XXV.</a></td><td align="left">THE ORGAN-CHAMBER</td><td align="right">255</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">XXVI.</a></td><td align="left">THE VESTRY</td><td align="right">265</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">XXVII.</a></td><td align="left">THE PILLARS</td><td align="right">275</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">XXVIII.</a></td><td align="left">THE ROOF</td><td align="right">285</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">XXIX.</a></td><td align="left">THE TOWER</td><td align="right">295</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">XXX.</a></td><td align="left">THE HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS</td><td align="right">311</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>INDEX OF ENGRAVINGS</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><i>Page</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image17">St. Mildred's Church and Lich-Gate, Whippingham</a></td><td align="right">3</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image19">Lich-Gate at Yealmton</a></td><td align="right">5</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image21">Lich-Gate at Birstal</a></td><td align="right">7</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image27">Heywood Church, Manchester</a></td><td align="right">13</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image29">Lich-Stone, Great Winnow, Cornwall</a></td><td align="right">15</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image32">Lich-Stone at Lustleigh</a></td><td align="right">18</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image35">Church of St. Nicholas, West Pennard</a></td><td align="right">21</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image37">Grave-Stones in Streatham Churchyard</a></td><td align="right">23</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image39">Grave-Stones in High-Week Churchyard</a></td><td align="right">24</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image42">Easter Flowers</a></td><td align="right">28</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image47">Stinchcombe Church</a></td><td align="right">33</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image50">Grave-Stones</a></td><td align="right">35, <a href="#image53">39</a>, <a href="#image55">41</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image56">Llanfechan Church</a></td><td align="right">42</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image59">Godmersham Church</a></td><td align="right">45</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image67">Porch of Lübeck Cathedral</a></td><td align="right">53</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image69">Porch and Parvise of St. Mary's Church, Finedon</a></td><td align="right">55</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image74">Parvise, Westbury-on-Trim</a></td><td align="right">60</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image79">Church of SS. Philip and James, Oxford</a></td><td align="right">65</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image81">Brass of John Bloxham and John Whytton in Merton College, Oxford</a></td><td align="right">67</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image89">Heywood Church</a></td><td align="right">75</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image91">Brass of Henry Sever, at Merton College, Oxford</a></td><td align="right">77</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image97">Chancel of Whippingham Church</a></td><td align="right">83</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image99">Brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington</a></td><td align="right">85</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image107">Church of St. John the Baptist, Kidmore End</a></td><td align="right">93</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image109">Encaustic Tiles, Brooke Church</a></td><td align="right">95, <a href="#image111">97</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image119">St. Andrew's Church, Halstead</a></td><td align="right">105</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image122">Ancient Wall Paintings in Kimpton Church</a></td><td align="right">108, <a href="#image123">109</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image127">St. Michael's Church, Gloucester</a></td><td align="right">113</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image132">Ancient Wall Painting in Bedford Church</a></td><td align="right">118</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image135">Wall Painting</a></td><td align="right">121</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image139">Church of St. John, Brandenburg</a></td><td align="right">125</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image141">Doorway, St. Stephen's Church, Tangermünde</a></td><td align="right">127</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image145">Crowmarsh Church</a></td><td align="right">131</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image151">Stained Glass Windows in Great Malvern Church</a></td><td align="right">137, <a href="#image153">139</a>, <a href="#image155">141</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image157">Rose Window, Cremona Cathedral</a></td><td align="right">143</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image161">Amberley Church, in ruin, and restored</a></td><td align="right">147</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image171">Ancient Font in West Rounton Church</a></td><td align="right">157</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image183">Stone Pulpit in Dartmouth Church</a></td><td align="right">169</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image191">Church of St. Mary, Henley-on-Thames</a></td><td align="right">177</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image193">Stone Pulpit in North Kilworth Church</a></td><td align="right">179</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image203">St. Mary's Church, Sherborne</a></td><td align="right">189</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image213">All Saints' Church, Bradford</a></td><td align="right">199</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image225">Castle Cary Church</a></td><td align="right">211</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image233">Church of SS. Peter and Paul, Ringwood</a></td><td align="right">219</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image241">Church of St. John, Walworth</a></td><td align="right">227</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image251">Sutton Benger Church</a></td><td align="right">237</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image257">Llanfaenor Church</a></td><td align="right">243</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image261">St. Alban's Church, Holborn</a></td><td align="right">247</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image271">Icklesham Church</a></td><td align="right">257</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image281">Harpsden Church</a></td><td align="right">267</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image291">Church of St. John, Highbridge</a></td><td align="right">277</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image301">Keynsham Church</a></td><td align="right">287</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image308">Clerestory Window</a></td><td align="right">294</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image311">Meopham Church</a></td><td align="right">297</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image317">Tower, Saragosa</a></td><td align="right">303</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><a href="#image323">Window, Church of St. Petronius, Bologna</a></td><td align="right">309</td></tr> +</table></div><br> + + +<div class="centpoem"><div class="centstanza"> +</div><div class="centstanza"> +"Who is able to build Him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of<br> +heavens cannot contain Him? who am I then, that I should build<br> +Him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before Him? <br> +"Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and<br> +in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and<br> +crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the<br> +cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem,<br> +whom David my father did provide. Send<br> +me also cedar-trees, fir-trees, and algum-trees,<br> +out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants<br> +can skill to cut timber in Lebanon;<br> +and, behold, my servants shall be<br> +with thy servants, even to prepare<br> +me timber in abundance:<br> +for the house which<br> +I am about to build <br> +shall be great and<br> +wonderful."—<br> +2 Chron. ii.<br> +6—9.<br> +<span class='larger'>✠</span> +</div></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>The following chapters are an attempt to explain in very +simple language the history and use of those parts of the +Church's fabric with which most persons are familiar.</p> + +<p>They are not written with a view to assist the student of +Ecclesiastical Art and Architecture—for which purpose the +works of many learned writers are available—but simply to +inform those who, from having paid little attention to such pursuits, +or from early prejudice, may have misconceived the origin +and design of much that is beautiful and instructive in God's +House.</p> + +<p>The spiritual and the material fabric are placed side by +side, and the several offices and ceremonies of the Church +as they are specially connected with the different parts of the +building are briefly noticed.</p> + +<p>Some of the subjects referred to may appear trifling and +unimportant; those, however, among them which seem to be +the most trivial have in some parishes given rise to long and +serious disputations.</p> + +<p>The unpretending narrative, which serves to embody the +several subjects treated of, has the single merit of being composed +of little incidents taken from real life.</p> + +<p>The first sixteen chapters were printed some years since in +the <i>Church Builder</i>.</p> + +<p>The writer is greatly indebted to the Committee of the +Incorporated Church Building Society for the use of most of +the woodcuts which illustrate the volume.</p> + +<p> +<span class="sidenote">W. F.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Godmersham Vicarage</span>,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Michaelmas</i>, 1871.</span><br> +</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 1]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a><b><i>CHAPTER I</i></b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE LICH-GATE</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"These words which I command thee; thou shalt write them on thy gates."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Deut.</span> vi. 6, 9.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 2]</span> +<span class="i0">"Who says the Widow's heart must break,<br></span> +<span class="i1">The Childless Mother sink?—<br></span> +<span class="i0">A kinder, truer Voice I hear,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Which even beside that mournful bier<br></span> +<span class="i1">Whence Parent's eyes would hopeless shrink,<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Bids weep no more—O heart bereft,<br></span> +<span class="i1">How strange, to thee, that sound!<br></span> +<span class="i0">A Widow o'er her only Son,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Feeling more bitterly alone<br></span> +<span class="i1">For friends that press officious round.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Yet is the Voice of comfort heard,<br></span> +<span class="i1">For Christ hath touch'd the bier—<br></span> +<span class="i0">The bearers wait with wondering eye,<br></span> +<span class="i0">The swelling bosom dares not sigh,<br></span> +<span class="i1">But all is still, 'twixt hope and fear.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Even such an awful soothing calm<br></span> +<span class="i1">We sometimes see alight<br></span> +<span class="i0">On Christian mourners, while they wait<br></span> +<span class="i0">In silence, by some Churchyard gate,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Their summons to the holy rite."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="sidenote"><i>Christian Year.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 3]</span> +<a name="image17" id="image17"></a> +<img src="images/illus017.jpg" width="351" height="530" alt="St. Mildred's Church and Lich-Gate, Whippingham" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE LICH-GATE</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 5]</span> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 249px;"> +<a name="image19" id="image19"></a> +<img src="images/illus019.jpg" width="249" height="277" alt="Lich-Gate at Yealmton" title=""> +</div> +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"A</SPAN>ny port in a +storm, Mr. +Ambrose," said old +Matthew Hutchison, +as with tired feet, and +scant breath, he hastened +to share the +shelter which Mr. +Ambrose, the Vicar +of the Parish, had +found under the +ancient and time-worn +Lich-gate of St. +Catherine's Churchyard. +For a few big +drops of rain that +fell pattering on the +leaves around, had warned them both to seek protection from +a coming shower. "Ah, yes, my old friend," the Vicar replied, +"and here we are pretty near the port to which we must all +come, when the storm of life itself is past."</p> + +<p>"I've known this place,—man and boy,—Mr. Ambrose, for +near eighty years; and on yonder bit of a hill, under that +broken thorn, I sit for hours every day watching my sheep; but +my eye often wanders across here, and then the thought takes +me just as you've said it, sir. Ah! it can't be long before Old +Matthew will need some younger limbs than these to bring him +through the churchyard gate;—that's what the old walls always +seem to say to me;—but God's will be done." And as the old +Shepherd reverently lifted his broad hat, his few white hairs,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 6]</span> +stirred by the rising gale, seemed to confirm the truth of his +words.</p> + +<p>"Well, Matthew, I am glad you have learnt, what many are +slow to learn, that there are 'Sermons in stones,' as well as in +books. Every stone in God's House, and in God's Acre—as +our Churchyards used to be called,—may teach us some useful +lesson, if we will but stop to read it."</p> + +<p>"Please, sir, I should like to know why they call the gate +at the new churchyard over the hill, a <i>lich</i>-gate;—these new +names puzzle a poor man like me<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>."</p> + +<p>"The name is better known in some parts of the country than +it is here; but it is no new name, I assure you, for in the time +of the Saxons, more than thirteen hundred years ago, it was in +common use; but I will tell you all about this, and some other +matters connected with the place where we now stand."</p> + +<p>"I shall take it very kind if you will, sir, for you know we +poor people don't know much about these things."</p> + +<p>"Very often quite as much as many who are richer, Matthew,—but +here comes our young squire, anxious like ourselves to +keep a dry coat on his back; so I shall now be telling my story +to rich and poor together, and I hope make it plain to both." +After a few words of friendly greeting between Mr. Acres and +himself, the three sat down on the stone seats of the Lich-Gate, +and he at once proceeded to answer the old Shepherd's question. +"The word <i>Lich</i><a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>," he said, "means a <i>Corpse</i>, and so <i>Lich-Gate</i> +means a Corpse-gate, or gate through which the dead body is +borne; and that path up which you came just now, Matthew, +used formerly to be called the <i>Lich-path</i><a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>, because all the funerals +came along that way. In some parts of Scotland is still kept +up the custom of <i>Lyke-wake</i> (<i>Lich-wake</i>), or watching beside the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 7]</span> +dead body before its burial<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>. The pale sickly-looking moss, +which lives best where all else is dead or dying, we call <i>lichen</i>. +Then you know the <i>Lich-owl</i> is so called because some people +are silly enough to think that its screech foretells death. And +I must just say something about this word <i>lich</i> in the name of +a certain city; it is <i>Lichfield</i>. Now <i>lich-field</i> plainly means the +field of the dead: and where that city now stands is said +to have been the burial-place of many Christian Martyrs, who +were slain there about the year 290. You will remember, Mr. +Acres, that the Arms of the City exhibit this field of the dead, +on which lie three slaughtered men, each having on his head, +as is supposed, a martyr's crown. Now, Matthew, I think I +have fully replied to your question; but I should like to say +something more about the use and the history of these Lich-Gates."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image21" id="image21"></a> +<img src="images/illus021.jpg" width="351" height="257" alt="Lich-Gate at Birstal" title=""> +</div> + +<p>"Will you kindly tell us," said Mr. Acres, "how it is that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 8]</span> +there are so few remaining, and that of these there are probably +very few indeed so much as four centuries old<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>."</p> + +<p>"I think the reason is, that at first they were almost entirely +made of wood, and therefore were subject to early decay—certainly +they must at one time have been far more general +than at present. The rubrical direction at the beginning of the +Burial Office in our Prayer Book seems to imply some such +provision at the churchyard entrance. It is there said 'the +Priest and Clerks' are to 'meet the Corpse <i>at the entrance of +the Churchyard</i>.' But in this old Prayer Book of mine, printed +in the year 1549, you see the Priest is directed to meet the +corpse at the 'Church-stile,' or Lich-Gate. Now as in olden +times the corpse was always borne to its burial by the friends +or neighbours of the deceased, and they had often far to travel, +their time of reaching the Churchyard must have been very +uncertain, and this uncertainty no doubt frequently caused delay +when they had arrived, therefore it was desirable both to have +a place of shelter on a rainy day, and of rest when the way was +long. Hence I suppose it is, that the older Lich-Gates are to +be found, for the most part, in widespread parishes and +mountainous districts; they are most common in the Counties +of Devon and Cornwall, and in Wales<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>. But even where the +necessity of the case no longer exists, the Lich-Gate, adorned, +as it ever should be, with some holy text or pious precept, is +most appropriate as an ornament, and expressive as a symbol. +Its presence should always be associated in our minds with +thoughts of death, and life beyond it. It should remind us +that though we must ere long 'go to the gates of the grave,' yet +that it is 'through the grave and gate of death' that we must<span class="pagenum">[Pg 9]</span> +'pass to our joyful resurrection.' It is here the Comforter of +Bethany so often speaks, through the voice of His Church, to +His sorrowing brethren in the world:—'I am the resurrection +and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet +shall he live<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>."</p> + +<p>"Ah! sir," said the shepherd, "many's the poor heart-bowed +mourner that's been comforted here with those words! They +always remind me of Jesus saying to the widow of Nain, 'Weep +not,' when he stopped the bier on which was her only son, and +the bearers, and all the mourners, at the gate of the city."</p> + +<p>"Yes! and all this makes us look on the old Lich-Gate as no +gloomy object, but rather as a 'Beautiful Gate of the Temple' +which is eternal,—a glorious arch of hope and triumph, hung all +round with trophies of Christian victory. But I see the rain is +over, and the sun is shining! so good-bye, Mr. Acres, we two +shepherds must not stay longer from our respective flocks:—old +Matthew's is spread over the mountains, mine is folded in the +village below." The old shepherd soon took his accustomed seat +under the weather-beaten thorn, the Vicar was soon deep in the +troubles of a poor parishioner, and the young Squire went to +the village by another way.</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 11]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a><b>CHAPTER II</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>LICH-STONES</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about +the streets."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Eccles.</span> xii. 5.</p> +</blockquote> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 12]</span> +<span class="i0">"Say, was it to my spirit's gain or loss,<br></span> +<span class="i0">One bright and balmy morning, as I went<br></span> +<span class="i0">From Liege's lovely environs to Ghent,<br></span> +<span class="i0">If hard by the wayside I found a cross,<br></span> +<span class="i0">That made me breathe a prayer upon the spot—<br></span> +<span class="i0">While Nature of herself, as if to trace<br></span> +<span class="i0">The emblem's use, had trail'd around its base<br></span> +<span class="i0">The blue significant Forget-me-not?<br></span> +<span class="i0">Methought, the claims of Charity to urge<br></span> +<span class="i0">More forcibly, along with Faith and Hope,<br></span> +<span class="i0">The pious choice had pitch'd upon the verge<br></span> +<span class="i0">Of a delicious slope,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Giving the eye much variegated scope;—<br></span> +<span class="i0">'Look round,' it whisper'd, 'on that prospect rare,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Those vales so verdant, and those hills so blue;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Enjoy the sunny world, so fresh and fair,<br></span> +<span class="i0">But'—(how the simple legend pierced me thro'!)<br></span> +<span class="i2">'Priez pour les Malheureux.'"<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="sidenote"><i>T. Hood.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 13]</span> +<a name="image27" id="image27"></a> +<img src="images/illus027.jpg" width="351" height="541" alt="Heywood Church, Manchester" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>LICH-STONES</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 15]</span> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image29" id="image29"></a> +<img src="images/illus029.jpg" width="351" height="198" alt="Lich-Stone, Great Winnow, Cornwall" title=""> +</div> + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"G</span>ood morning, Mr. Acres, and a happy Easter-Tide to +you. This is indeed a bright Easter sun to shine on our +beautiful Lich-Gate at its re-opening. I little thought on what good +errand you were bent when last we parted at this spot. Hardly +however had I reached my door when William Hardy came with +great glee to tell me you had engaged his services for the work. +May God reward you, sir, for the honour you have shown for +His Church."</p> + +<p>"And an old man's blessing be upon you, sir, if you will let +Old Matthew say so; for the Church-gate is dearer to me than +my own, seeing it has closed upon my beloved partner, and the +dear child God gave us, and my own poor wicket shuts on no +one else but me now."</p> + +<p>"Thank you heartily, honest Matthew, and you too, sir," replied +the squire, giving to each the hand of friendship; "I am +rejoiced that what has been done pleases you so well. The +restored Gate is in every respect like the original one, even to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 16]</span> +the simple little cross on the top of it. I have added nothing +but the sentence from our Burial Office, 'Blessed are the dead +which die in the Lord,' which you see over the arch, and which +I hope will bring comfort to some, and hope to all who read it. +But the work would never have been done by me, Mr. Vicar, +had you not so interested Matthew and myself in these Lich-Gates +when last we met. And so, as you see, your good words +have not been altogether lost, I hope you will kindly to-day +continue the subject of our last conversation."</p> + +<p>"Most gladly will I do so; and as I have already spoken of +the general purpose and utility of these Lich-Gates, I will now +say a little about their construction and arrangement.</p> + +<p>"Their most common form, as you know, is a simple shed +composed of a roof with two gable ends, covered either with tiles +or thatch, and supported on strong timbers well braced together. +But they are frequently built of stone, and in the manner of +their construction they greatly vary. At Burnsall there is a +curious arrangement for opening and closing the gate. The +stone pier on the north side has a well-hole, in which the weight +that closes the gate works up and down. An upright swivel +post or 'heart-tree,' (as the people there call it,) stands in the +centre, and through this pass the three rails of the gate; an iron +bent lever is fixed to the top of this post, which is connected by +a chain and guide-pulley to the weight, so that when any one +passes through, both ends of the gate open in opposite directions. +The Gate at Rostherne churchyard, in Cheshire, is on a similar +plan. At Berry-harbour is a Lich-Gate in the form of a cross. +At only one place, I believe,—Troutbeck, in Westmoreland,—are +there to be found three stone Lich-Gates in one churchyard. +Some of these gates have chambers over them, as at Bray<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>, in +Berkshire, and Barking<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>, in Essex. At Tawstock there is a +small room on either side of the gate, having seats on three sides +and a table in the centre. It seems that in this, as in some +other cases, provision is made either for the distribution of alms,<span class="pagenum">[Pg (/d)]</span> +or for the rest and refreshment of funeral attendants. It was +once a common custom at funerals in some parts, especially in +Scotland<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>, to hold a feast at the Church-gate and these feasts +sometimes led to great excesses: happily they are now discontinued, +but the custom may help to point out the purpose for +which these Lich-Gate rooms were sometimes erected. In Cornwall +it is not customary to bear the corpse on the shoulders, but +to carry the coffin, under-handed, by white cloths passed beneath +and through the handles<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> and this partly explains the peculiar +arrangement for resting the corpse at the entrance to the churchyard, +common, even now, in that county, and which is called the +<i>Lich-Stone</i>. The Lich-Stone is often found without any building +attached to it, and frequently without even a gate. The Stone is +either oblong with the ends of equal width, or it is the shape of the +ancient coffins, narrower at one end than the other, but without +any bend at the shoulder. It is placed in the centre, having stone +seats on either side, on which the bearers rest whilst the coffin +remains on the Lich-Stone. When there is no gate, the churchyard +is protected from the intrusion of cattle by this simple +contrivance:—long pieces of moor-stone, or granite, are laid +across, with a space of about three inches between each, and +being rounded on the top any animal has the greatest difficulty +in walking over them, indeed a quadruped seldom attempts to +cross them.</p> + +<p>"Lich-Stones are,—though very rarely,—to be found at a +distance from the churchyard; in this case, doubtless, they are +intended as rests for the coffin on its way to burial.</p> + +<p>"At Lustleigh, in Devonshire, is an octagonal Lich-Stone +called Bishop's Stone, having engraved upon it the arms of +Bishop Cotton<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>. It seems not unlikely that the several beautiful +crosses erected by King Edward I. at the different stages<span class="pagenum">[Pg 18]</span> +where the corpse of his queen, Eleanor<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>, rested on its way from +Herdeby in Lincolnshire to Westminster, were built over the +Lich-Stone on which her coffin was placed. And now, my kind +listeners, I think I have told you all I know about Lich-Stones."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image32" id="image32"></a> +<img src="images/illus032.jpg" width="351" height="299" alt="Lich-Stone at Lustleigh" title=""> +</div> + +<p>"These simple memorials of Church architecture are very +touching," replied Mr. Acres, as he rose to depart; "and the +Lich-Stone deserves a record before modern habits and improvements +sweep them away. They have a direct meaning, and +surely might be more generally adopted in connexion with the +Lich-Gate, now gradually re-appearing in many of our rural +parishes, as the fitting entrance to the churchyard."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 19]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a><b>CHAPTER III</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>GRAVE-STONES</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre +wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones +beside his bones."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'>1 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> xiii. 31.</p> +</blockquote><br> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 20]</span> +<span class="i14">"I've seen<br></span> +<span class="i0">The labourer returning from his toil,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Here stay his steps, and call the children round,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And slowly spell the rudely sculptured rhymes,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And in his rustic manner, moralize.<br></span> +<span class="i0">We mark'd with what a silent awe he'd spoken,<br></span> +<span class="i0">With head uncover'd, his respectful manner,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And all the honours which he paid the grave."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>H. Kirke White.</i></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls<br></span> +<span class="i1">The burial-ground God's acre! It is just;<br></span> +<span class="i0">It consecrates each grave within its walls,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Into its furrows shall we all be cast,<br></span> +<span class="i1">In the sure faith that we shall rise again<br></span> +<span class="i0">At the great harvest, when the archangel's blast<br></span> +<span class="i1">Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"With thy rude ploughshare, Death, turn up the sod,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And spread the furrow for the seed we sow;<br></span> +<span class="i0">This is the field and acre of our God:<br></span> +<span class="i1">This is the place where human harvests grow."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>Longfellow.</i><br></span> +</div></div><br><br><br> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 399px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 21]</span> +<a name="image35" id="image35"></a> +<img src="images/illus035.jpg" width="399" height="247" alt="Church of St. Nicholas, West Pennard" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>GRAVE-STONES</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 23]</span> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 249px;"> +<a name="image37" id="image37"></a> +<img src="images/illus037.jpg" width="249" height="288" alt="Grave-Stones in Streatham Churchyard" title=""> +</div> + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"A</span>nd so, Matthew, the old sexton's little daughter is to be buried +to-day. What a calm peaceful day it is for her funeral! The day itself +seems to have put on the same quiet happy smile that Lizzie Daniels +always carried about with her, before she had that painful lingering +sickness, which she bore with a meekness and patience I hardly ever saw equalled. +And then it is Easter Day too, the very day one would choose +for the burial of a good Christian child. All our services to-day +will tell us that this little maid, and all those who lie around us +here so still beneath their green mounds, are not dead but +sleeping, and as our Saviour rose from the grave on Easter Day, +so will they all awake and rise up again when God shall call +them. I see the little grave is dug under the old yew-tree, +near to that of your own dear ones. Lizzie was a great favourite +of yours, was she not, Matthew?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, she was the brightest little star in my sky, I can tell<span class="pagenum">[Pg 24]</span> +you, sir; and I shall miss her sadly. She brought me my dinner, +every day for near two years, up to the old thorn there, and then +she would sit down on the grass before me, and read from her +Prayer Book some of the Psalms for the day; and when she +had done, and I had kissed and thanked her, she used to go +trotting home again, with, I believe, the brightest little face +and the lightest little heart in England. Well, sir, it's sorry +work, you know, for a man to dig the grave for his own child, +and so I asked John Daniels to let me dig Lizzie's grave: but +it has been indeed hard work for me, for I think I've shed more +tears in that grave than I ever shed out of it. But the grave is +all ready now, and little Lizzie will soon be there; and then, +sir, I should like to put up a stone, for I shall often come here +to think about the dear child. Poor little Lizzie! she seemed +like a sort of good angel to me,—children do seem like that +sometimes, don't they, sir? Perhaps, Mr. Ambrose, you would +be so good as to tell Robert Atkinson what sort of stone you +would like him to put up."</p> + +<p>"Certainly I will; and I think nothing would be so suitable +as a simple little stone cross, with Lizzie's name on the base of +it. And as she is to be buried on Easter Day, I should like to +add the words, 'In Christ shall all be made alive.'"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir; that will do very nicely. I'm only thinking, +may be, that wicked boy of Mr. Dole's, at the shop, will +come some night and break the cross, as he did the one Mr. +Hunter put up over his little boy. But I think that was more +the sin of the father than of the son, for I'm told the old gentleman's +very angry with you, sir, 'cause he couldn't put what he +call's a 'handsome monument' over his father's grave; and he +says, too, he's going to law about it."</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image39" id="image39"></a> +<img src="images/illus039.jpg" width="351" height="264" alt="Grave-Stones in High-Week Churchyard" title=""> +</div> + +<p>"Ah, he'll be wiser not to do that, Matthew. The churchyard +is the parson's freehold, and he has the power to prevent +the erection of any stone there of which he disapproves; and I, +for one, don't mean to give up this power. 'Tis true that every +one of my parishioners has a right to be buried in this churchyard, +nor could I refuse this if I would; but then, if I am to +protect this right of my parishioners, as it is my duty to do, and +to preserve my churchyard from disfigurement and desecration, +I must take care that the ground is not occupied by such great +ugly monuments as Mr. Dole wishes to build<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>. Why I hear he<span class="pagenum">[Pg 25]</span> +bought that large urn<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> which was taken down from Mr. Acres' +park gates, to put on the top of the tomb. And then I suppose +he would like to have the sides covered with skulls and crossbones, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 26]</span> +and shovels and mattocks, and fat crying cherubs, +besides the usual heathen devices, such as inverted torches and +spent hour-glasses; all which fitly enough mark an infidel's +burial-place, but not a Christian's. For you see, my friend, that +<i>none of these things represent any Christian truth</i>; the best are +but emblems of mortality; some are the symbols of oblivion and +despair, and others but mimic a heathen custom long gone by. +The stones of the churchyard ought themselves to tell the sanctity +of the place, and that it is a Christian's rest<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>. The letters +we carve on them will hardly be read by our children's children. +The lines on that stone there tell no more than is true of all the +Epitaphs around us:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">'The record some fond hand hath traced,<br></span> +<span class="i1">To mark thy burial spot,<br></span> +<span class="i1">The lichen will have soon effaced,<br></span> +<span class="i1">To write thy doom—Forgot.'<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But even then, if the symbol of our redemption is there, 'the +very stones will cry out,' and though time-worn and moss-grown, +will declare that it is a <i>Christian's</i> burial-place. If, then, as +Christian men and women 'we sorrow not as others without +hope,' let us not cover our monuments with every symbol of +despair, or with heathen devices, but as we are not ashamed +of the doctrine, so neither let us be ashamed of the symbol +of the cross of Christ. Besides, if we wish to preserve our +graves from desecration, this form of stone is the most likely to +do so; for in spite of outrages like young Dole's, which have +been sometimes committed, we continually find that such memorials +have been respected and preserved when others have<span class="pagenum">[Pg 27]</span> +been removed and employed for common uses. Why, Matthew, +I've seen hundreds of grave-stones converted into fire-hearths, +door-steps, pavements, and such like, but I never saw a monument +on which was graven the Christian symbol so desecrated; +and I believe such a thing has hardly ever been seen by any +one."</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Ambrose, I should like there to be no doubt +about little Lizzie's being a Christian's grave. I was thinking, +too, to have a neat iron railing round the stone, sir."</p> + +<p>"I would advise you not to have it, Matthew; for the grave +will be prettier without it. Besides, it gives an idea of separateness, +which one does not like in a place where all distinctions +are done away with; and, moreover, the iron would soon rust, +and then the railing would become very untidy."</p> + +<p>"Yes, to be sure it would; I was forgetting that I shan't be +here to keep it nicely painted:—but see, sir, here come the +children from the village with their Easter flowers. I dare say +little Mary Acres will give me some for Lizzie's grave."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I like that good old custom of placing flowers and +wreaths on Christian graves at Easter, and other special seasons<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>. +It is the simple way in which these little ones both show their +respect for departed friends, and express their belief in the +resurrection of the dead. I would say of it, as Wordsworth +wrote of the Funeral Chant:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">'Many precious rites<br></span> +<span class="i0">And customs of our rural ancestry<br></span> +<span class="i0">Are gone, or stealing from us; this, I hope,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Will last for ever.'<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But you remember the time, Matthew, when there were very +different scenes from this, at Easter, in St. Catherine's churchyard. +If I mistake not, you will recollect when the Easter fair +used to be kept here."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 28]</span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image42" id="image42"></a> +<img src="images/illus042.jpg" width="351" height="456" alt="Easter Flowers" title=""> +</div> + +<p>"That I do, sir, too well. There was always a Sunday fight +in the churchyard, and the people used to come from Walesborough +and for miles round to see it. It's just forty years ago +to-day poor Bill Thirlsby was killed in a fight, as it might be,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 29]</span> +just where I'm now standing<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a>. But, thank God, that day's +gone by."</p> + +<p>"And, I trust, never to come back again. But have you +heard, Matthew, that some great enemies of the Church are +trying to spoil the peace and sacredness of our churchyards in +another way? They want to bring in all kinds of preachers to +perform all sorts of funeral services in them; and if they gain +their ends, our long-hallowed churchyards, where as yet there +has only been heard the solemn beautiful Burial Service of our +own Church, may be desecrated by the clamour of ignorant +fanaticism, the continual janglings of religious discord, or perhaps, +the open blasphemy of godless men."</p> + +<p>"What! then I suppose we should have first a service from +Master Scoff, the bill-sticker and Mormon preacher, and next +from Master Scole, the Baptist preacher, then from Father La +Trappe, the Roman Catholic minister, and then, perhaps, sir, +it might be your turn. Why, sir, 'twould be almost like going +back to the Easter fair."</p> + +<p>"Well, my friend, in one respect it would be worse; for it +would be discord all the year round. But I trust God will +frustrate these wicked designs of our Church's foes. Long, long +may it be ere the sanctity of our churchyards is thus invaded."</p> + +<p>"Amen, say I to that, sir, with all my heart."</p> + +<p>"And, thanks be to God, Matthew, that Amen of yours is +now re-echoing loudly throughout the length and breadth of +England."</p> + + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 31]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a><b>CHAPTER IV</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>GRAVE-STONES</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"And he said, What title is that that I see? and the +men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the +man of God."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'>2 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> xiii. 17.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 32]</span> +<span class="i0">"I never can see a Churchyard old,<br></span> +<span class="i1">With its mossy stones and mounds,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And green trees weeping the unforgot<br></span> +<span class="i1">That rest in its hallow'd bounds;<br></span> +<span class="i0">I never can see the old churchyard,<br></span> +<span class="i1">But I breathe to God a prayer,<br></span> +<span class="i0">That, sleep as I may in this fever'd life,<br></span> +<span class="i1">I may rest, when I slumber, there.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Our Mother the Church hath never a child<br></span> +<span class="i1">To honour before the rest,<br></span> +<span class="i0">But she singeth the same for mighty kings,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And the veriest babe on her breast;<br></span> +<span class="i0">And the bishop goes down to his narrow bed<br></span> +<span class="i1">As the ploughman's child is laid,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And alike she blesseth the dark brow'd serf,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And the chief in his robe array'd.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And ever the bells in the green churchyard<br></span> +<span class="i1">Are tolling to tell you this:—<br></span> +<span class="i0">Go pray in the church, while pray ye can,<br></span> +<span class="i1">That so ye may sleep in bliss."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>Christian Ballads.</i><br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"It is an awful thing to stand<br></span> +<span class="i0">With either world on either hand,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Upon the intermediate ground<br></span> +<span class="i0">Which doth the sense and spirit bound.<br></span> +<span class="i0">Woe worth the man who doth not fear<br></span> +<span class="i0">When spirits of the dead are near."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>The Baptistery.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 33]</span> +<a name="image47" id="image47"></a> +<img src="images/illus047.jpg" width="351" height="406" alt="Stinchcombe Church" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>GRAVE-STONES</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 35]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">A</span> golden haze in the eastern sky told that the sun +which had set in all his glory an hour before was now +giving a bright Easter Day to Christians in other lands. +The evening service was ended, and a joyful peal had just +rung out from the tower of St. Catherine's,—for such was the +custom there on all the great festivals of the Church,—the low +hum of voices which lately rose from a group of villagers gathered +near the churchyard gate was hushed; there was a pause of +perfect stillness; and then the old tenor began its deep, +solemn tolling for the burial of a little child. The Vicar +and his friend Mr. Acres, who had been walking slowly to +and fro on the churchyard path, stopped suddenly on hearing +the first single beat of the burial knell, and at the same +instant they saw, far down the village lane, the flickering +light of the two torches borne by those who headed the little +procession of Lizzie's funeral. They, too, seemed to have +caught the spell, and stood mutely contemplating the scene +before them. At length Mr. Acres broke silence by saying, "I +know of but few Parishes where, like our own, the funerals of +the poor take place by torch-light; it is, to say the least, a very +picturesque custom."</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image50" id="image50"></a> +<img src="images/illus050.jpg" width="351" height="359" alt="Grave-Stones" title=""> +</div> + +<p>"It is, indeed," replied Mr. Ambrose, "I believe, however, the +poor in this place first adopted it from no such sentiment, but +simply as being more convenient both to themselves and to their +employers. Their employers often cannot spare them earlier +in the day, and they themselves can but ill afford to lose a day's +wages. But these evening funerals have other advantages. +They enable many more of the friends of the departed to show +this last tribute of respect to their memory than could otherwise +do so; and were this practice more general, we should have<span class="pagenum">[Pg 36]</span> +fewer of those melancholy funerals where the hired bearers are +the sole attendants. Then, if properly conducted, they save the +poor much expense at a time when they are little able to afford +it. I find that their poor neighbours will, at evening, give +their services as bearers, free of cost, which they cannot afford +to do earlier in the day. The family of the deceased, too, are +freed from the necessity of taxing their scanty means in +order to supply a day's hospitality to their visitors, who now +do not assemble till after their day's labour, and immediately +after the funeral retire to their own homes, and to rest. I +am sorry to say, however, this was not always so. When I +first came to the Parish, the evening was too often followed +by a night of dissipation. But since I have induced the people +to do away with hired bearers, and enter into an engagement to +do this service one for another, free of charge, and simply as a +<i>Christian duty</i>, those evils have never recurred. I once preached<span class="pagenum">[Pg 37]</span> +a sermon to them from the text, 'Devout men carried Stephen +to his burial' (Acts viii. 2), in which I endeavoured to show them +that none but men of good and honest report should be selected +for this solemn office; and I am thankful to say, from that time +all has been decent and orderly. When it is the funeral of one +of our own school-children, the coffin is always carried by some +of the school-teachers; I need hardly say this is simply an act +of Christian charity. Moreover, this custom greatly diminishes +the number of our Sunday burials, which are otherwise almost +a necessity among the poor<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>. The Sunday, as a great Christian +Festival, is not appropriate for a public ceremony of so +mournful a character as that of the burial of the dead; there +is, too, this additional objection to Sunday burials: that they +create <i>Sunday labour</i>. But, considering the subject generally, I +confess a preference for these evening funerals. To me they +seem less gloomy, though more solemn, than those which take +place in the broad light of day. When the house has been +closed, and the chamber of death darkened for several days (to +omit which simple acts would be like an insult to the departed), +it seems both consonant with this custom which we have universally +adopted, and following the course of our natural feelings, to +avoid—in performing the last solemn rite—the full blaze of +midday light. There is something in the noiseless going away +of daylight suggestive of the still departure of human life; and in +the gathering shades of evening, in harmony with one's thoughts +of the grave as the place of the <i>sleeping</i>, and not of the <i>dead</i>. +The hour itself invites serious thought. When a little boy, I +once attended a midnight funeral; and the event left an +impression on my mind which I believe will never be altogether +effaced. I would not, however, recommend midnight funerals, +except on very special occasions; and I must freely admit that +under many circumstances evening funerals would not be +practicable."</p> + +<p>"I see," said Mr. Acres, "that the system here adopted<span class="pagenum">[Pg 38]</span> +obviates many evils which exist in the prevailing mode of +Christian burial, but it hardly meets the case of large towns, +especially when the burial must take place in a distant cemetery. +Don't you think we want reform there, even more, perhaps, than +in these rural parishes?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly, my friend, I do; and I regret to say I see, +moreover, many difficulties that beset our efforts to accomplish +it. Still something should be done. We all agree, it is much +to be deplored that, owing to the necessity for extramural +burial, the connexion between the parishioner and his parish +church is, with very rare exceptions, entirely severed in the last +office which the Clergy and his friends can render him, and the +solemn Service of the Burial of the Dead is said in a strange +place, by a stranger's voice. Now this we can at least partly +remedy. I would always have the bodies of the departed +brought to the parish church previous to their removal to the +cemetery; and the funeral knell should be tolled, as formerly, to +invite their friends and neighbours to be present, and take part +in so much of the service as need not be said at the grave. +It would then be no longer true, as now it is, that in many of +our churches this touching and beautiful Service has never been +said, and by many of the parishioners has never been heard. +Then let the bearers be men of good and sober character. +How revolting to one's sense of decency is the spectacle, so +common in London, of hired attendants, wearing funeral robes +and hat-bands<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a>, drinking at gin-palaces, whilst the hearse and +mourning coaches are drawn up outside! Then I would have +the furniture of the funeral less suggestive of <i>sorrow without +hope</i>; and specially I would have the coffin less gloomy,—I +might in many cases say, less <i>hideous</i>: let it be of plain wood, +or, if covered, let its covering be of less gloomy character, and +without the trashy and unmeaning ornaments with which undertakers +are used to bestud it. As regards our cemeteries, I +suppose in most of them the Burial Service is said in all its +integrity, but in some it is sadly mutilated. 'No fittings, sir, +and a third-class grave,' said the attendant of a large cemetery<span class="pagenum">[Pg 39]</span> +the other day to a friend of mine, who had gone there to bury a +poor parishioner; which in simple English was this:—'The man +was too poor to have any other than a <i>common grave</i>, so you +must not read all the Service; +and his friends are too poor to +give a hat-band, so you must not +wear a hood and stole.' My +friend did not of course comply +with the intimation."</p> +<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;"> +<a name="image53" id="image53"></a> +<img src="images/illus053.jpg" width="150" height="418" alt="Grave-Stones" title=""> +</div> +<p>"Well, Mr. Vicar, I hope we +may see the improvements you +have suggested carried out, and +then such an abuse as that will +not recur. Much indeed has already +been done in this direction, +and for this we must be thankful."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and side by side with +that, I rejoice to see an increasing +improvement in the +character of our tombstones and +epitaphs."</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir, there was need +enough, I am sure, for that. +How shocking are many of the +inscriptions we find on even +modern tombstones! To 'lie +like an epitaph' has long been a +proverb, and I fear a just one. +What a host of false witnesses +we have even here around us in +this burial-ground! There lies +John Wilk, who was—I suppose—as +free from care and sickness +to his dying hour as any man +that ever lived; yet his grave-stone +tells the old story:—</p> + +<div class="centpoem"><div class="centstanza"> +'Afflictions sore long time I bore,<br> + Physicians was in vain.'<br> +</div></div> + +<p>And beyond his stands the stone of that old scold Margery<span class="pagenum">[Pg 40]</span> +Torbeck, who, you know, sir, was the terror of the whole +village; and of her we are told:—</p> + +<div class="centpoem"><div class="centstanza"> +'A tender wife, a mother dear,<br> +A faithful friend, lies buried here.'<br> +</div></div> + +<p>I often think, Mr. Ambrose, when walking through a churchyard, +if people were only half as good when living, as when dead +they are said to have been, what a happy world this would be; +so full of 'the best of husbands,' 'the most devoted of wives,' +'the most dutiful of sons,' and 'the most amiable of daughters.' +One is often reminded of the little child's inquiry—'Mamma, +where are all the <i>wicked</i> people buried?' But did you ever +notice that vain and foolish inscription under the north wall to +the 'perpetual' memory of 'Isaac Donman, Esq.'? Poor man! +I wonder whether his friends thought the 'Esq.' would <i>perpetuate</i> +his memory. I wish it could be obliterated."</p> + +<p>"I have told John Daniels to plant some ivy at the base of +the stone, and I hope the words will be hidden by it before the +summer is over. I find this the most convenient mode of concealing +objectionable epitaphs. But is it not an instance of +strange perversity, that where all earthly distinctions are swept +away, and men of all degrees are brought to one common level, +people will delight to inscribe these boastful and exaggerated +praises of the departed, and so often claim for them virtues +which in reality they never possessed? What can be more out +of place here than pride? As regards the frail body on which +is often bestowed so much vain eulogy, what truer words are +there than these?—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'How loved, how valued once, avails thee not;<br></span> +<span class="i0">To whom related, or by whom begot:<br></span> +<span class="i0">A heap of dust alone remains of thee,<br></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis all thou art, 'tis all the proud shall be.'<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>These kind of epitaphs, too, are so very unfair to the deceased. +We who knew old Mrs. Ainstie, who lies under that grand +tombstone, knew her to be a good, kind neighbour; but posterity +will not believe that, when posterity reads in her epitaph +that 'she was a spotless woman.' It is better to say too little +than too much; since our Bibles tell us that, even <i>when we +have done all, we are unprofitable servants</i>. There are other<span class="pagenum">[Pg 41]</span> +foolish epitaphs which are the result of ignorance, not of pride. +For instance, poor old Mrs. Beck, whose son is buried in +yonder corner (it is too dark now to see the stone), sent me +these lines for her son's grave-stone:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Here lies John Beck, aged 19 years,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Father and mother, wipe away your tears.'<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I persuaded her instead to have this sentence from the Creed:—'I +believe in the communion of Saints.' When I explained to +her the meaning of the words, she was grateful that I had +suggested them.</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image55" id="image55"></a> +<img src="images/illus055.jpg" width="351" height="320" alt="Grave-Stones" title=""> +</div> + +<p>The two things specially to be avoided in these memorials +are flattery and falsehood; and, moreover, we should always +remember that neither grave-stone nor epitaph can benefit the +<i>dead</i>, but that both may benefit the <i>living</i>. Therefore a short +sentence from the Bible or Prayer Book, expressive of hope beyond +the grave, is always appropriate; such as:—'I look for the +resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come;' or +words which either may represent the dying prayer of the deceased, +or express a suitable petition for ourselves when thus<span class="pagenum">[Pg 42]</span> +reminded of our own approaching departure, such as: 'Jesus, +mercy,' or 'God be merciful to me a sinner,' or 'In the hour of +death, good Lord, deliver us.' How much better is some simple +sentence like these than a fulsome epitaph! But the funeral is +nearly at the gate; so I must hasten to meet it."</p> + +<p>"And I will say good evening," said Mr. Acres, "as I may +not see you after the service; and I thank you for drawing my +attention to a subject on which I had before thought too little."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ambrose met the funeral at the lich-gate. First came +the two torch-bearers, then the coffin, borne by six school-teachers; +then John and Mary Daniels, followed by their two +surviving children; then came old Matthew, and after him +several of little Lizzie's old friends and neighbours. Each attendant +carried a small sprig of evergreen<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a>, or some spring flowers, +and, as the coffin was being lowered, placed them on it. Many +tears of sadness fell down into that narrow grave, but none told +deeper love than those of the old Shepherd, who lingered +sorrowfully behind to close in the grave of his little friend.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 399px;"> +<a name="image56" id="image56"></a> +<img src="images/illus056.jpg" width="399" height="259" alt="Llanfechan Church" title=""> +</div> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 43]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a><b>CHAPTER V</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE PORCH</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Eccles.</span> v. 1.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 44]</span> +<span class="i0">"When once thy foot enters the church, be bare.<br></span> +<span class="i0">God is more there than thou: for thou art there<br></span> +<span class="i0">Only by His permission. Then beware<br></span> +<span class="i0">And make thyself all reverence and fear.<br></span> +<span class="i0">Kneeling ne'er spoilt silk stockings: quit thy state,<br></span> +<span class="i0">All equal are within the Church's gate.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Let vain or busy thoughts have there no part:<br></span> +<span class="i0">Bring not thy plough, thy plots, thy pleasures thither.<br></span> +<span class="i0">Christ purged His temple; so must thou thy heart.<br></span> +<span class="i0">All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together<br></span> +<span class="i0">To cozen thee. Look to thy actions well;<br></span> +<span class="i0">For churches either are our heaven or hell."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>George Herbert.</i><br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> + +<span class="i0">"One place there is—beneath the burial sod,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Where all mankind are equalized by death:<br></span> +<span class="i0">Another place there is—the Fane of God,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Where all are equal who draw living breath."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>Thomas Hood.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 399px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 45]</span> +<a name="image59" id="image59"></a> +<img src="images/illus059.jpg" width="399" height="282" alt="Godmersham Church" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE PORCH</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 47]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">M</span>r. Ambrose only remained in the churchyard a +few moments after little Lizzie's funeral, just to say +some kind words to the bereaved parents and the attendant +mourners, and then hastened to comply with the urgent request +of a messenger, that he would without delay accompany +him to the house of a parishioner living in a distant part of the +Parish.</p> + +<p>It was more than an hour ere the Vicar began to retrace his +steps. His nearest way to the village lay through the churchyard, +along the path he had lately traversed in earnest conversation +with Mr. Acres. He paused a moment at the gate, to +listen for the sound of Matthew's spade; but the old man had +completed his task, and all was still. He then entered, and +turned aside to look at the quiet little grave. A grassy mound +now marked the spot, and it was evident that no little care had +been bestowed to make it so neat and tidy.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ambrose was slowly walking on, musing on the patient +sufferings of his little friend, now gone to her rest, when just as +he approached the beautiful old porch of the church his train of +thought was suddenly disturbed by hearing what seemed to him +the low, deep sobbing of excessive grief. The night was not so +dark but that he could see distinctly within the porch, and he +anxiously endeavoured to discover whether the sound had proceeded +from any one who had taken shelter there for the night; +but the place was evidently tenant less. "It must have been +only the hum of a passing breeze, which my fancy has converted +into a human voice," thought he, "for assuredly no such restless +sobs as those ever escape from the deep sleepers around me<span class="pagenum">[Pg 48]</span> +here." And so the idea was soon banished and forgotten. But +as he stood there, his gaze became, almost unconsciously, fixed +upon the old church porch. The dim light resting upon it +threw the rich carvings of its graceful arches, and deep-groined +roof, with its massive bosses of sculptured stone, into all sorts +of fantastic forms, and a strange mystery seemed to hang about +the solemn pile, which completely riveted his attention to it, and +led him into the following reverie:—"Ah, thou art indeed a +'beautiful gate of the temple'! Well and piously did our +ancestors in bestowing so much wealth and labour to make thy +walls so fair and lovely. And well ever have they done in +crowding these noble porches with the sacred emblems of our +holy faith. Rightly have they deemed that the very highest +efforts of human art could not be misapplied in adorning the +threshold of God's House, so that, ere men entered therein, +their minds might be attuned to the solemnity of the place<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a>. +All praise, too, to those honest craftsmen who cemented these +old stones so well together that they have stood the storms of centuries, +and still remain the unlettered though faithful memorials +of ages long gone by. Ah, how many scenes my imagination calls +up as I look on this old porch! Hundreds of years ago most of +the sacred offices of our Church were there in part performed. +Now, I think I see the gay bridal party standing in that dusky +portal<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>; there comes the Priest to join the hands of the young +and happy pair; he pronounces over them the Church's blessing; +and the bridegroom endows with her bridal portion her whom +he has sworn to love till one shall die. A thousand brides and +bridegrooms, full of bright hopes of happy years, have been +married in that porch. Centuries ago they grew old and died, +and were buried in this churchyard, but the old porch still remains<span class="pagenum">[Pg 49]</span> +in all its beauty and all its strength. There, kneeling +upon that well-worn pavement, I see the mother pour forth her +thankfulness to God for her deliverance from sickness, and for +the babe she bears<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a>. And now, still beneath that porch, she +gives her tender infant into the arms of God's priest, that he may +present it to Him in holy Baptism. In yon dark corner I seem +to see standing the notorious breaker of God's commands; his +head is bent down with shame, and he is clothed in the robe of +penance<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a>. Now the scene is changed: the old walls resound +with the voices of noisy disputants—it is a parish meeting<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>, and +passions long since hushed find there a clamorous expression; +but there stands the stately form of the peace-maker, and the +noisy tongue of the village orator is heard no more. Yes, rise +up, Sir Knight, who, with thy hands close clasped as if in ceaseless +prayer, hast lain upon that stony couch for five long centuries, +and let thy manly step be heard beneath that aged roof +once more; for, though a warrior, thou wast a good and peace-loving +man, and a devout worshipper in this temple, or, I trust, +thy burial-place would never have been in this old porch<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>."</p> + +<p>The eyes of the Vicar were fixed upon the recumbent effigy +of an old knight lying beneath its stone canopy on the western<span class="pagenum">[Pg 50]</span> +side of the porch (of which, however, only a dim outline was +visible), when the same sound that had before startled him was +repeated, followed by what seemed the deep utterance of earnest +prayer, but so far off as to be but faintly heard. He stood in +motionless attention for a short time, and then the voice ceased. +He then saw a flickering light on one of the farthest windows of +the chancel; slowly it passed from window to window, till it +reached that nearest to the spot where he was standing. Then +there was a narrow line of light in the centre of the doorway; +gradually it widened, and there stood before him the venerable +form of the old shepherd.</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 51]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a><b><i>CHAPTER VI</i></b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE PORCH</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His +courts with praise."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Ps.</span> c. 4.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 52]</span> +<span class="i0">"Why should we grudge the hour and house of prayer<br></span> +<span class="i3">To Christ's own blind and lame,<br></span> +<span class="i3">Who come to meet Him there?<br></span> +<span class="i1">Better, be sure, His altar-flame<br></span> +<span class="i1">Should glow in one dim wavering spark,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Than quite lie down, and leave His Temple drear and dark.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"What if the world our two or three despise<br></span> +<span class="i3">They in His name are here,<br></span> +<span class="i3">To whom in suppliant guise<br></span> +<span class="i1">Of old the blind and lame drew near,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Beside His royal courts they wait,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And ask His healing Hand: we dare not close the gate."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>Lyra Innocentium.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 53]</span> +<a name="image67" id="image67"></a> +<img src="images/illus067.jpg" width="351" height="506" alt="Porch of Lübeck Cathedral" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE PORCH</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 55]</span> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 249px;"> +<a name="image69" id="image69"></a> +<img src="images/illus069.jpg" width="249" height="279" alt="Porch and Parvise of St. Mary's Church, Finedon" title=""> +</div> +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"T</span>he Vicar's +first impulse, +on recovering from +his surprise at so unexpectedly +meeting +with the old Shepherd +in such a +place, at such an +hour, was, if possible, +to escape unnoticed, +and to +leave the churchyard +without suffering +him to know +what he had heard +and seen; but at +that instant the +light fell full upon him, and concealment was impossible.</p> + +<p>"You'll be surprised, Mr. Ambrose," said the old man, "at +finding me in the church at this late time. But it has, I assure +you, been a great comfort for me to be here."</p> + +<p>"My good friend," replied the Vicar, "I know you have +been making good use of God's House, and I only wish there +were more disposed to do the like. I rejoice to hear you have +found consolation, for to-day has been one of heavy sorrow to +you, and you needed that <i>peace which the world cannot give</i>. +How often it is that <i>we cannot understand these trials until we +go into the House of the Lord</i>, and then God makes it all plain +to us."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 56]</span></p> + +<p>"I've learnt that to-night, sir, as I never learnt it before. +When I had put the last bit of turf on the little grave, and +knew that all my work was over, there was such a desolate, +lonely-like feeling came over me, that I thought my old heart +must break; and then, all of a sudden, it got into my head that +I would come into the church. But it was more dull and +lonesome there than ever. It was so awful and quiet, I became +quite fearful and cowed, quite like a child, you know, sir. +When I stood still, I hardly dared look round for fear I should +see <i>something</i> in the darkness under the old grey arches, and +when I moved, the very noise of my footsteps, which seemed +to sound in every corner, frightened me. However, I took +courage, and went on. Then I opened this Prayer Book, and +the first words I saw were these in the Baptismal Service:—'<i>Whosoever +shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, +he shall not enter therein.</i>' So I knelt down at the altar rails +and prayed, as I think I never prayed before, that I might in +my old age become as good as the little maid I had just buried, +and be as fit to die as I really believe she was. Then I said +those prayers you see marked in the book, sir (she put the +marks), and at last I came to those beautiful words in the +Communion Service (there is a cross put to them, and I felt +sure she meant me particularly to notice them):—'<i>We bless +and praise Thy holy Name for all Thy servants departed this +life in Thy faith and fear.</i>' I stood up, and said that over and +over again; and as I did so, somehow all my fear and lonesomeness +went away, and I was quite happy. It was <i>this</i> that +made me so happy: I felt sure, sir, quite sure, that my poor +dear wife and our child and little Lizzie were close to me. I +could not see nor hear them, but for all that I was somehow +quite certain that they were there rejoicing with me, and +praising God for all the good people He had taken to Himself. +Oh! I shall never forget this night, sir; the thought of it will +always make me happy. You will never see me again so cast +down as I have been lately."</p> + +<p>"Well, Matthew, you cannot at least be wrong in allowing +what you have felt and believed to fix more firmly in your +faith the Church's glorious doctrine of the <i>communion of +saints</i>."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 57]</span></p> + +<p>For some time each stood following out in his own mind +the train of thought which these words suggested. Matthew +was the first to break silence, by begging the Vicar kindly to +go with him into the room above where they were standing, as +he wished there to ask a favour of him.</p> + +<p>Matthew returned into the church to find the key of the +chamber, and Mr. Ambrose at once recognized the volume +which he had left on the stone seat of the porch, as that from +which Lizzie was used to read when she sat beside the old +Shepherd on the neighbouring hill. He took it up, and, opening +it at the Burial Office, he found there a little curl of lovely +fair hair marking the place. The page was still wet—it was the +dew of evening, gentle tears of love and sorrow shed by one +whose night was calmly and peacefully coming on.</p> + +<p>The old man soon returned with the key, and, bearing the +lantern, led the way up a narrow, winding stone staircase, formed +in the masonry of a large buttress, to the little chamber. As +soon as they had reached it, he said, "Before I beg my favour, +Mr. Ambrose, I should much like you to tell me something +about this old room. Ever since I was a boy it has been a sort +of lumber-room, but I suppose it was not built for that?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Matthew, there is not much here to throw light upon +the history of this particular chamber; but I will tell you what +I can about such places generally. The room is most commonly, +but not correctly, called the <i>parvise</i><a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>. The word <i>parvise</i>, or +<i>paradise</i>, properly only applies to an open court adjoining a +church, and surrounded by cloisters; but in olden times a room +in a private house was sometimes called a paradise<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>, and hence,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 58]</span> +I suppose, the name came to be used for the porch-room of the +church. It was also called the <i>priest's chamber</i><a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a>; and such, I +think, was the room in which we now are. You see it is provided +with a nice little fire-place<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a>, and it is a comfortable little +place to live in. Sometimes it was called the <i>treasury</i><a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a>, or +record-room, because the parish records and church books were +kept in it; or the <i>library</i><a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>, from its being appropriated for the +reception of a church or parochial library. There are many of +these chambers furnished with valuable libraries which have +been bequeathed from time to time for this purpose. It is also +evident, from the remains of an altar and furniture connected +with it, that not infrequently it was built for a <i>chapel</i><a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a>. Occasionally +it has been used as the <i>parish school</i><a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a>; and I have heard<span class="pagenum">[Pg 59]</span> +that in some of the eastern counties poor people have occasionally, +in cases of extreme distress, claimed sanctuary or +refuge, both in the porch and parvise, and lived there undisturbed +for some weeks together. But latterly, in many places, the +parish clerk or sexton has been located in the parvise, that he +may watch the churchyard and protect the church<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>; and I am +inclined to think this is a much more sensible thing to do, than +to give up the room to the owls and bats, as is very often the case +now, but even that is better than to use it as it has sometimes +been used—as a common prison<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a>."</p> + +<p>"I am glad to hear you say that, sir, for it makes the way +for me to ask my favour. John Daniels wants to give up the +place of sexton; and as I am getting too old now to walk far, +and to take care of the sheep as I used to do, I'm going to +make so bold as to ask you to let me be sexton in his stead, +and to live in this little room, if you please, sir. I could then +keep the key of the church, and it would be always at hand +when wanted: I should be near to ring the bell for morning +and evening prayer; I could watch the churchyard, and see +that no one breaks the cross on Lizzie's grave—I shall be able +to see it from this window. And then, sir, if you will have this +little window opened again into the church<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a>, why I can keep<span class="pagenum">[Pg 60]</span> +guard over the church too; and that's rather necessary just now, +for several churches about us have been robbed lately. Besides +all this, the room is much more warm and comfortable than +mine in the village, and I shall enjoy the quiet of it so much."</p> + +<p>"Most glad, Matthew, shall I be to see the office of sexton in +such good hands. You will not yourself be equal to all the +work, but you will always be able to find a younger hand when +you need one. And then, with regard to your living here, it's +just the thing I should like, for, apart from other reasons, it +would enable me to have the church doors always open to those +who would resort thither for prayer or meditation. It is a sad +thing for people to be deprived of such religious retirement. I +almost wish that the church porch could be made without a +church door altogether, as it used to be<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a>, and then the church +would be always open. But, my friend, have you considered +how gloomy, and lonely, and unprotected this place will be?"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image74" id="image74"></a> +<img src="images/illus074.jpg" width="351" height="222" alt="Parvise, Westbury-on-Trim" title=""> +</div> + +<p>"You mus'n't say <i>gloomy</i>, if you please, sir; I trust and +believe my gloomy days are past; and lonely I shall not be: +you remember my poor daughter's little boy that was taken out<span class="pagenum">[Pg 61]</span> +to Australia by his father (ah! his name almost <i>does</i> make +me gloomy—but, God forgive him!)—he is coming home next +week to live with me. He is now seven years old; I hear he is +a quiet, old-fashioned boy. He will be a nice companion for me, +and I hope you will let him help in the church; but we can +speak of that again. Then for protection, sir, you must let my +fond old dog be with me at nights; the faithful fellow would +die of grief were we altogether parted. Come, sir, it's an old +man's wish, I hope you'll grant it." This last sentence was +said as they were returning down the little winding staircase +back to the porch.</p> + +<p>"It shall be as you wish; next week the room shall be ready +for you. And as I have granted all the requests you have +made, you must grant me one in return. You must let me +furnish the room for you. No, I shall not listen to any objections; +this time <i>I</i> must have <i>my</i> way. Good night."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 63]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a><b><i>CHAPTER VII</i></b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE PAVEMENT</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"The place whereon thou standest is holy ground."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Exod.</span> iii. 5.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 64]</span> +<span class="i0">"Mark you the floor? that square and speckled stone,<br></span> +<span class="i6">Which looks so firm and strong,<br></span> +<span class="noter">Is <i>Patience</i>;<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And the other black and grave, wherein each one<br></span> +<span class="i6">Is checker'd all along,<br></span> +<span class="noter"><i>Humility</i>;<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The gentle rising, which on either hand<br></span> +<span class="i6">Leads to the quire above,<br></span> +<span class="noter">Is <i>Confidence</i>;<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"But the sweet cement, which in one sure band<br></span> +<span class="i6">Ties the whole frame, is <i>Love</i><br></span> +<span class="noter">And <i>Charity</i>."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">George Herbert.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 65]</span> +<a name="image79" id="image79"></a> +<img src="images/illus079.jpg" width="351" height="482" alt="Church of SS. Philip and James, Oxford" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="THE_PAVEMENT" id="THE_PAVEMENT"></a>THE PAVEMENT</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 67]</span> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;"> +<a name="image81" id="image81"></a> +<img src="images/illus081.jpg" width="150" height="423" alt="Brass of John Bloxham and John Whytton in Merton College, Oxford" title=""> +</div> + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"W</span>hy, my dear Constance," +said Mr. Acres, as one +morning he found the eldest of his +three children sitting gloomy and +solitary at the breakfast-room window, +"you look as though all the cares +of the nation were pressing upon you! +Come, tell me a few of them; unless," +added he, laughingly, "my little +queen thinks there is danger to the +State in communicating matters of +such weighty import."</p> + + +<p>"Oh, don't make fun of me, dear +Papa! I have only one trouble just +now, and you will think that a very +little one; but you know you often +say little troubles seem great to little +people."</p> + +<p>"Then we must have the bright +little face back again at once, if, after +all, it is only one small care that +troubles it," said he, kissing her affectionately. +"But now, my darling, +let me know all about it."</p> + +<p>"Well, Papa, I think it's too bad +of Mary to go up to the church again +to-day to help Ernest to take more rubbing's of those dull, +stupid old brasses. I don't care any thing about them, and I +think it's nonsense spending so much time over them as they +do. I wish Mr. Ambrose would not let them go into the +church any more, and then Mary would not leave me alone +like this."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 68]</span></p> + +<p>"That's not a very kind wish, Constance, as they both seem +so much interested in their work; but I dare say this is the last +day they will give to it. Suppose we go this afternoon to look +after them: we can then ask Ernest to bring home all the +copies he has taken, and when Mr. Ambrose comes in by-and-by, +perhaps he will tell us something about them; and who +knows but your unconsciously offending enemies may turn out +to be neither dull nor stupid, after all?"</p> + +<p>The proposal was gladly accepted, and at four o'clock they +were enjoying their pleasant walk up to St. Catherine's Church.</p> + +<p>As they entered the church Mr. Acres heard, to his surprise, +the clear ring of Mary's happy laugh. She was standing in the +south aisle, beside the paper on which she had been vainly +attempting to copy a monumental brass. Seeing her father +approach with a serious and somewhat reproving countenance, +she at once guessed the cause, and anticipated the reprimand he +was about to utter. "You must not be angry with me, Papa," +she said, in a very subdued tone, "for indeed I could not help +laughing, though I know it is very wrong to laugh in church; +but, you know, I had just finished my rubbing of the brass +here, and thought I had done it so well, when all of a sudden +the paper slipped, and the consequence was that my poor +knight had two faces instead of one; and he looked so queer +that I could not help laughing at him very much."</p> + +<p>"No doubt, my dear child," said her father, "there was something +in your misfortune to provoke a laugh, but I think you +must have forgotten for a moment the sacredness of this place, +when you gave vent to the merry shout I heard just now. You +should always remember that in God's house you are standing +on <i>holy ground</i>, and though it may be permissible for us to go +there for the purpose of copying those works of art, which in +their richest beauty are rightly dedicated to God and His service, +and these curious monuments which you and Ernest have +been tracing, yet we should ever bear with us a deep sense of the +sanctity of the building as the 'place where His honour dwelleth,' +and avoid whatever may give occasion to levity; or should the +feeling force itself upon us, we ought, by a strong effort, to +resist it."</p> + +<p>Although the words were spoken in a kind and gentle voice,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 69]</span> +many tears had already fallen upon Mary's spoilt tracing, so her +father said no more on the subject; but, taking her hand, led +her quietly away to a chapel at the north-east corner of the +church, round which was placed a beautifully carved open +screen. It was the burial-place of the family that formerly +tenanted the Hall, and there were many brass figures and +inscriptions laid in the floor to their memory. Here, attentively +watched by old Matthew the sexton, Ernest was busily engaged +tracing the figure of a knight in armour, represented as standing +under a handsome canopy. He had already completed his +copy of the canopy, and of the inscription round the stone, and +was now engaged at the figure. Two sheets of paper were +spread over the stone, and he had guarded against Mary's +accident by placing on the paper several large kneeling hassocks, +which were used by the old people. He was himself half reclining +on a long cushion laid on the pavement, and having before +marked out with his finger on the paper the outlines of the brass +underneath it, was now rubbing away vigorously with his heel-ball<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a>, +and at every stroke a little bit more of the knight came +out upon the paper, till, like a large black drawing, the complete +figure appeared before them. They had all watched Ernest's +labours with the greatest interest, and, this being the last, they +assisted in rolling up the papers, that they might be taken home +for more careful examination in the evening.</p> + +<p>"I wish Master Ernest could take a picture of good old Sir +John, as we call him, Mr. Acres," said Matthew; "I mean him +as lies in the chancel, right in front of the altar; but he's cut +out in the flat stone, and not in the metal, so I suppose Master +Ernest can't do it. I remember the time, sir, when people as +were sick and diseased used to come for miles round to lie +upon that stone, and they believed it made them much better<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>; +and if they believed it, I dare say it did, sir. And 'tisn't but a +very few years back when it would have been thought very unlucky +indeed if a corpse had not rested over good Sir John all +night before its burial. We still place the coffins just in the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 70]</span> +same place at the funerals, but of course nobody any longer believes +that good Sir John can do good or ill to those inside them."</p> + +<p>"I must bring some stronger paper than that I use for the +brasses, to copy the stone figure, Matthew," said Ernest; "so +that must be done another day."</p> + +<p>All said good-bye to the old sexton, and as he wended his way +up the narrow stone stairs to his little chamber, Mr. Acres and +his family returned to Oakfield Hall.</p> + +<p>The dining-room was soon decorated with the trophies of +Ernest's four days' labour, and other rubbing's which he had before +taken; and when Mr. Ambrose arrived he was met by several +eager petitioners, praying him to give some explanation of the +strange-looking black and white figures that hung upon the walls.</p> + +<p>"It would take me a whole day to tell you all that might be +said about them," said he; "but I shall be very glad to give you +a short description of each, and I will follow the course which +Ernest has evidently intended me to adopt, for I see he has +arranged all the bishops and priests together, and the knights, +the civilians, and the ladies, each class by itself. But first I +must tell you something of the general history of these brass +memorials. There are an immense number of them in this +country—it is supposed about 4000—and they are chiefly to be +found in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Kent; but indeed there +are comparatively few old churches in England in which you +cannot find upon the pavement some traces of these interesting +memorials. Though, however, so many remain, probably not +less than 20,000 have been either stolen or lost. You will see +on the pavement at St. Catherine's, marks of the force which has +been used in tearing many from the stones in which they had +been firmly fixed."</p> + +<p>"But who could have been so fearless and wicked as to take +them away?" exclaimed Constance, who already had begun to +feel a real interest in the subject.</p> + +<p>"Alas! Constance, that question is easily answered. There +was indeed a time, long ago, when people would not have +<i>dared</i> to commit these acts of sacrilege. You know among +the ancient Romans there was a belief that the manes or +spirits of the departed protected their tombs, and so persons +were afraid to rob them; but people since then have<span class="pagenum">[Pg 71]</span> +been deterred by no such fear, indeed by no fear at all. Within +the period between 1536 and 1540 somewhere about 900 religious +houses were destroyed, and their chapels were dismantled +and robbed of their tombs, on which were a great number +of brasses. And this spirit of sacrilege extended beyond the +monasteries, for at this time, and afterwards, very many of our +parish churches were also despoiled of their monumental brasses; +indeed the evil spread so much that Queen Elizabeth issued a +special proclamation for putting a stop to it. The greatest destruction +of brasses, however, took place a hundred years after +this, when thousands were removed from the cathedrals and +churches to satisfy the rapacity or the fanaticism of the Puritan +Dissenters, who were then in power<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a>. In later times, I am sorry +to say, large numbers have been sold by churchwardens, for the +just value of the metal, and many have been removed during the +restoration of churches and have not been restored; of course, +those whose special duty it was to protect them have been +greatly to blame for this. Then not a few have become loose, +and been lost through mere carelessness. Some of the most<span class="pagenum">[Pg 72]</span> +beautiful brasses in our church I discovered a few years since +under a heap of rubbish in the wood-house of Daniels, the +former sexton<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a>. So you see it is no wonder we find so many +of those curiously-indented slabs in the pavement of our churches, +which mark the places where brasses have formerly been.</p> + +<p>A few of these memorials are to be found in Wales, Ireland, +and Scotland. Some also exist in France, Germany, Russia, +Prussia, Poland, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. +In these countries, however, they have never been numerous.</p> + +<p>But now I must say a few words about their origin. The +oldest memorials of the dead to be found in our churches +are the stone coffin-lids, with plain or floriated crosses carved +upon them. The stone coffins were buried just below the level +of the pavement, so their lids were even with the floor of the +church. Afterwards, similar crosses were graven on slabs of +stone above the coffin; then the faces of the deceased were +represented; and at length whole figures, and many other devices, +were carved on the stone, and around the stone was +sometimes an inscription consisting of letters of <i>brass</i> separately +inlaid. Then the figures and inscriptions were either altogether +made of brass, or were partly graven in stone and partly in +brass; specimens of both, I see, Ernest has provided for us. +The earliest of these incised slabs are probably of the ninth +century, but the faces of the deceased were not carved on them +till about 1050. The earliest brass of which we have any +account is that of Simon de Beauchamp, 1208; and the most +ancient brass figure now remaining is that of Sir John Daubernoun, +1277.</p> + +<p>"The form of the brass has evidently been often suggested +by the stone and marble effigies we see on altar-tombs. For +we find that not only the costume and position of the figures +are closely copied, but also the canopies above them, the +cushions or helmets on which their heads rest, and the lions, +dogs, or other animals on which the feet are placed. I have +something more to say on the subject generally, before I come +to speak particularly about Ernest's copies; so after the general +interval of ten minutes I will resume the subject.</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 73]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><b>CHAPTER VIII</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE PAVEMENT</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"They bowed themselves with their faces to the ground +upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the +Lord, saying, For He is good, for His mercy endureth +for ever."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">2 Chron.</span> vii. 3.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 74]</span> +<span class="i0">"This is the abode where God doth dwell,<br></span> +<span class="i1">This is the gate of Heaven,<br></span> +<span class="i0">The shrine of the Invisible,<br></span> +<span class="i1">The Priest, the Victim given.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"O holy seat, O holy fane,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Where dwells the Omnipotent!<br></span> +<span class="i0">Whom the broad world cannot contain,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Nor Heaven's high firmament.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Here, where the unearthly Guest descends<br></span> +<span class="i1">To hearts of Innocence,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And sacred love her wing extends<br></span> +<span class="i1">Of holiest influence;<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Let no unhallow'd thought be here,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Within that sacred door;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Let nought polluted dare draw near,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Nor tread the awful floor;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Or, lo! the Avenger is at hand,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And at the door doth stand."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"><span class="noterlong"><i>The Child's Christian Year.</i></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 75]</span> +<a name="image89" id="image89"></a> +<img src="images/illus089.jpg" width="351" height="548" alt="Heywood Church" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="THE_PAVEMENT-viii" id="THE_PAVEMENT-viii"></a>THE PAVEMENT</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 77]</span> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;"> +<a name="image91" id="image91"></a> +<img src="images/illus091.jpg" width="150" height="351" alt="Brass of Henry Sever, at Merton College, Oxford" title=""> +</div> + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">A</span>s soon as the short pause +was over, all ears were +open to learn something more on +a subject which had been hitherto +entirely without interest to most +of the Vicar's little audience.</p> + + +<p>"We find sometimes upon the +pavement of our churches," said +Mr. Ambrose, "memorials just +like those I have spoken to you +about, except that they are made +of <i>iron</i> or <i>lead</i> instead of brass, +but they are comparatively very +rare, and, except in the metal of +which they are composed, differ +nothing from the <i>brasses</i>.</p> + +<p>"Sepulchral brasses must have +been a great ornament to our +churches before they were despoiled +of their beauty by the hand +of Time, and the still less sparing +hand of man. The vivid colours of +the enamel with which they were +inlaid, and the silvery brightness +of the yet untarnished lead which +was employed to represent the +ermine and other parts of official costume, must have added +greatly to the splendour of these monuments. At first they +were no doubt very costly, for there appear to have been but<span class="pagenum">[Pg 78]</span> +few places where they were made in this country, and, in addition +to the cost of the brasses themselves, the expense of their carriage +in those times must have been considerable. A great +many of these monuments, however, are of foreign manufacture, +and were chiefly imported from Flanders. It is easy to distinguish +between the English and the Flemish brasses, for +whereas the former are composed of separate pieces of metal +laid in different parts of the stone, and giving the distinct +outline of the figure, canopy, inscription, &c., the latter are +composed of several plates of brass placed closely together +and engraved all over with figures, canopies, and other designs. +The later English brasses are, however, very similar to the +Flemish. You see that little copy of a brass about three feet +long by one foot deep which Ernest has somehow obtained +from the church at Walton-on-Thames? Now that is a square +piece of metal just like those they made in Flanders, but it +was evidently engraved in England. It is dated 1587, and is +in memory of John Selwyn, keeper of Queen Elizabeth's park +at Oatlands, near Walton. It represents, as you see, a stag +hunt, and is said to refer to this incident:—'The old keeper, +in the heat of the chase, suddenly leaped from his horse upon +the back of the stag (both running at that time with their +utmost speed), and not only kept his seat gracefully, in spite +of every effort of the affrighted beast, but, drawing his sword, +with it guided him to wards the Queen, and coming near her +presence, plunged it in his throat, so that the animal fell dead +at her feet<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a>.'"</p> + +<p>"But, my friend," said Mr. Acres, "it seems to me that the +record of such an event, even if it ever happened—which I +must take the liberty to doubt—is quite as objectionable as +any of those epitaphs in our churchyard which you once so +strongly and justly condemned."</p> + +<p>"I quite agree with you. But this was made at a time when +sepulchral monuments were frequently of a very debased character. +At this period the brasses underwent a great change. +They began to rise from their humble position on the pavement, +and the figures were occasionally made without their devotional<span class="pagenum">[Pg 79]</span> +posture, which up to this date had been almost universal. +They were then placed on the church walls, on tablets, or on +the top and at the back of altar-tombs, and this led the way +for the erection of a large number of monuments in stone +of similar design, but more cumbrous and inconvenient. +Inferior workmen also were evidently employed at this +time to engrave the brasses, and they became more and +more debased, till they reached the lowest point of all, a +hundred years ago, and soon after their manufacture altogether +ceased. It was near the time when this brass was put +up to the old park-keeper, that that ugly monument in memory +of Sir John York, with its four heathen obelisks, and its four +disconsolate Cupids, was put up in our chancel, covering so +much of the floor as to deprive at least twenty persons of their +right to a place in God's House. About this time, too, that +uncomfortable looking effigy of Lady Lancaster was put upon +its massive altar-tomb. To judge from the position of her +Ladyship, and hundreds of other similar monuments, represented +as reclining and resting the face upon the hand, we +might imagine that a large proportion of the population in those +days died of the toothache. However, the attitude of prayer +was that most commonly adopted, as well in stone as brass +effigies, till long after this period.</p> + +<p>"If any thing more than the figure, canopy, inscription, and +shield is represented on a brass, it is commonly a sacred symbol, +a trade mark, or some badge of rank or profession. To this +there are but a few exceptions, besides the brass of John Selwyn. +At Lynn, in Norfolk, on one brass is a hunting scene, on another +a harvest-home, such as it was in the year 1349, and on another +a peacock feast, the date of which is 1364. Founders of +churches frequently hold in their hands the model of a church. +The emblem of undying love we find in the heart, either alone +or held by both hands of the effigy. A long epitaph was often +avoided by the simple representation of a chalice, a sword, an +ink-horn, a wool-sack, a barrel, shears, or some such trade or +professional emblem. Some—comparatively few—of the inscriptions +on brasses are, however, profusely long, and sometimes, +but very rarely, ridiculous.</p> + +<p>In very early times the epitaphs were always written in Latin<span class="pagenum">[Pg 80]</span> +or Norman French; and if that practice had continued, it +would not much matter to persons generally even if they were +absurd, as few could read them: but about the year 1400 +they began to be written in English, and then of course these +foolish inscriptions must have been distracting to the thoughts +of those who attended the church. But it very often happened +that persons had their brasses put down some time before their +decease, as is evident from the circumstance that in many cases +the dates have never been filled in. This custom would much +tend to prevent foolish and flattering inscriptions.</p> + +<p>"I have noticed that there is in nearly all brasses a solemn +or serious expression in the countenance suitable to their presence +in God's House. They were frequently <i>portraits</i> of the +persons commemorated<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a>. This was no doubt the case in later +brasses, and I think in the earlier also. Latterly the faces +were sometimes coloured, no doubt to represent the originals +more exactly. It seldom happens that the age of the person +is otherwise than pretty faithfully portrayed.</p> + +<p>"I must next tell you something of the dresses of the clergy, +the soldiers, and the civilians, as we see them engraved upon +the pavements of our churches."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 81]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a><b><i>CHAPTER IX</i></b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE PAVEMENT</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">John</span> xi. 38.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 82]</span> +<span class="i6">"On the floor beneath<br></span> +<span class="i0">Sepulchral stones appear'd, with emblems graven<br></span> +<span class="i0">And footworn epitaphs, and some with small<br></span> +<span class="i0">And shining effigies of brass inlaid."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noterlong"><span class="smcap">Wordsworth's</span> <i>Excursion</i>.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> + +<span class="i0">"The warrior from his armed tent,<br></span> +<span class="i1">The seaman from the tide—<br></span> +<span class="i0">Far as the Sabbath chimes are sent,<br></span> +<span class="i1">In Christian nations wide,—<br></span> +<span class="i0">Thousands and tens of thousands bring<br></span> +<span class="i1">Their sorrows to His shrine,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And taste the never-failing spring<br></span> +<span class="i1">Of Jesus' love Divine.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"If at the earthly chime, the tread<br></span> +<span class="i1">Of million million feet<br></span> +<span class="i0">Approach whene'er the Gospel's read<br></span> +<span class="i1">In God's own temple-seat;<br></span> +<span class="i0">How blest the sight, from death's dark sleep<br></span> +<span class="i1">To see God's saints arise,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And countless hosts of angels keep<br></span> +<span class="i1">The Sabbath of the skies!"<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> + +<span class="noter"><i>Lyra Sacra.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 83]</span> +<a name="image97" id="image97"></a> +<img src="images/illus097.jpg" width="351" height="395" alt="Chancel of Whippingham Church" title=""> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="THE_PAVEMENT-ix" id="THE_PAVEMENT-ix"></a>THE PAVEMENT</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 85]</span> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;"> +<a name="image99" id="image99"></a> +<img src="images/illus099.jpg" width="150" height="325" alt="Brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington" title=""> +</div> + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"T</span>hat costumes are pretty +accurately represented on +brasses," continued Mr. Ambrose, "we +are sure, from the fact that many different +artists have made the dresses of +each particular period so much alike; +and this circumstance adds much +interest and importance to these +monuments. I will now describe +some of these dresses, and you must +try to find out, as I go on, the +several parts of the dress I am describing +on Ernest's rubbing's which +hang upon the wall. But I shall +only be able to say a little about +each. First there come the persons +holding sacred office in the Church. +The priests are usually, you see, +dressed in the robes worn at Holy +Communion, and they commonly +hold the chalice and wafer in their +hands. The robe which is most conspicuous is the <i>chasuble</i>. +It is usually richly embroidered in gold and silk. This robe +is one of the ornaments of the minister referred to in the rubric +at the commencement of the Prayer Book. At the top of it +you see the <i>amice</i>. This too is worked in various colours and +patterns. The academic <i>hood</i>, some suppose, now represents +this part of the priest's dress. You must remember we are +looking at the dresses worn five hundred years ago, and which +had been in use long before that time, and we cannot be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 86]</span> +surprised if some of them, as now worn, are a little changed +in shape and appearance. The narrow band which hangs +from the shoulders nearly to the feet, embroidered at the +ends, is called the <i>stole</i>. This, you know, is still worn by us +just as it was then. It is one of the most ancient vestments +of the Church, and is intended to represent the <i>yoke of Christ</i>. +The small embroidered strip hanging on the left arm is the +<i>maniple</i>. It is used for cleaning the sacred vessels. Beneath +the chasuble is the <i>albe</i>, a white robe which—changed somewhat +in form—we still wear. It is derived from the linen ephod of +the Jews. Sometimes on brasses, as on that beautiful one to the +memory of Henry Sever<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a>, the <i>cope</i> is represented. This is a +very rich and costly robe, and is still always worn at the coronations +of our Kings and Queens; it is also ordered to be worn +on other occasions. Then the bishops wore, you see, other +robes besides those I have mentioned:—the <i>mitre</i>, like the +albe, handed down from the time of the Jews to our own +period; the <i>tunic</i>, a close-fitting linen vestment; the <i>dalmatic</i>, +so called because it was once the regal dress of Dalmatia; +the gloves, often jewelled. They hold the <i>crozier</i>, or <i>cross +staff</i>, or else the <i>crooked</i>, or <i>pastoral staff</i>, in their hand. As +bishops and priests were then, as now, very often buried in +their ecclesiastical vestments, the brass probably in such cases +represented, as near as could be, the robed body of the person +beneath. The earliest brasses of ecclesiastics are at Oulton, +Suffolk, and Merton College, Oxford. The date of both is about +1310.</p> + +<p>"We must next come to the monumental brasses of <i>knights</i> +and warriors; and that curious brass to Sir Peter Legh, which +is taken from Winwick Church, will do well for a connecting +link between the clergy and the warriors. He is, you see, in +armour, but over the upper part of it is a chasuble, on the front +of which is his shield of arms. And this tells his history. He +was formerly a soldier, but at the decease of his wife he relinquished +his former occupation, and became a priest of the +Church. You see before you soldiers in all kinds of armour, and +you can easily trace the gradual change from the <i>chain mail</i> to +the <i>plated armour</i>, till you find the former almost entirely abandoned,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 87]</span> +and the latter adopted, in the early part of the fifteenth +century. Now I should soon tire you if I were to describe all +the curious sorts of armour these soldiers wear, so I must just +take one of them, and that will go far to wards explaining others. +There hangs Sir Roger de Trumpington<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a>, of Trumpington, +Cambridgeshire; his date is 1289. You see he is cross-legged, +and so you would put him down for a Knight Templar, and a +warrior in the Holy Land. And so he was; but nevertheless +you must remember all cross-legged figures are not necessarily +Knights Templar. He rests his head upon a <i>bascinet</i> (<span class="smcap">A</span>), or +helmet. His head and neck are protected by chain mail (<span class="smcap">B</span>), +to which is attached his <i>hauberk</i> (<span class="smcap">D</span>), or shirt of mail. On his +shoulders are placed <i>ailettes</i> (<span class="smcap">C</span>), or little wings, and these are +ornamented with the same arms as those borne on his shield. +They were worn both for defence and ornament, as soldiers' +epaulettes are now. The defence for the knees (<span class="smcap">G</span>) was made of +leather, and sometimes much ornamented. At a later time it +was made of plated metal. The legs and feet are covered with +chain mail, called the <i>chausse</i> (<span class="smcap">F</span>), and he wears <i>goads</i>, or +'pryck spurs,' on his heels (<span class="smcap">H</span>). Over the hauberk he has +a <i>surcoat</i> (<span class="smcap">E</span>) probably of wool or linen. Here you see it is +quite plain; but it is frequently decorated with heraldic devices; +and such devices on the surcoat or armour are often the only +clue left to the name and history of the wearer.</p> + +<p>"On the brasses of <i>civilians</i> we find nothing like the present +ungraceful and unsightly mode of dress; indeed we can scarcely +imagine any thing more ridiculous than the representation of +the modern fashionable dress on a monumental brass. But on +these memorials, you see, the robes are, with rare exceptions, +flowing and graceful. In the sixteenth century there was but +slight difference between the male and female attire of persons +in private life. Of course the dresses of professional men have +always been characteristic. Civilians were, with hardly an +exception, always represented on brasses <i>bare-headed</i>. Happily +for the good people in those times they did not know the +hideous and inconvenient <i>hat</i> which continues to torture those<span class="pagenum">[Pg 88]</span> +who live in towns, but from which we in the country have presumed +to free ourselves.</p> + +<p>"The dresses <i>actually worn</i> by the deceased are probably +sometimes represented on the brasses of <i>ladies</i>. You have before +you every variety of costume, from the simple robe of the time +of Edward II. and III., down to the extravagant dresses of +Elizabeth's reign. On the early brasses the <i>wimple</i> under the +chin marked the rank of the wearer. Till about the year 1550 +ladies are not infrequently represented with heraldic devices +covering their kirtles and mantles; but I should think such +ornamentation was never really worn by them. The different +fashions of wearing the hair here represented are most fantastic. +St. Paul tells us that 'if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to +her;' but these English matrons too often forgot that <i>simplicity</i> +which gives to this beauty of nature its chief charm. See, here +is the <i>butterfly head-dress</i>, of the fifteenth century, extending two +feet at the back of the head; and there is the <i>horn head-dress</i>, +spreading a foot on either side of the head. The fashions +among women then appear to have been as grotesque as they +have been in our own day.</p> + +<p>"<i>Children</i> on these tombs are represented either behind or +beneath their parents; sometimes they wear the <i>tabard</i>, a short +coat, with heraldic figures upon it—as on this brass to John +Ansty; you see there are twelve sons below the father, and four +daughters below the mother—sometimes they wear a dress which +marks their occupation; and in a few instances the name of each +child is placed below it. <i>Skeletons</i> and emaciated figures, sometimes +in shrouds, were represented on brasses after the fifteenth +century. <i>Crosses</i>, with or without figures of the deceased, are +very frequently to be met with, and their form is often exceedingly +elegant<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a>. You will not fail to notice the <i>canopies</i> of many +of these brasses; the beauty of some of these designs it would +be impossible to surpass. But I fear you must be tired of my +long lecture, so I must hasten to bring it to a close. These +memorials I like better than any others for churches; for, first, +they are by far the most <i>durable</i> of all; then they are the most +<i>convenient</i>, for they take up little space, and are a great ornament +to the <i>pavement of the church</i>; moreover they teach their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 89]</span> +own <i>moral</i>, they occupy a <i>lowly</i> place in God's House, and are +all on one <i>common level</i>. I am, therefore, very glad to see them +introduced again into many of our cathedrals and parish +churches. And, my dear Constance, I must end with a word to +you. I fancy by this time you have learnt that <i>monumental +brasses</i> are not dull and stupid. To the student of antiquity, +history, genealogy, heraldry, and architecture, these <i>pavement +monuments</i> are, I assure you, of the greatest interest and value. +They help to fix dates to ancient documents, to illustrate +various periods of ecclesiastical architecture, and throw much +light on the manners and customs of other times. They are, +too, a constant protest against that excess in 'wearing of gold +and putting on of apparel,' against which St. Paul wrote, and +which is one of the great sins of our day; for though we +find elaborate and costly robes represented on the brasses +of the great and the wealthy, you always see the figures of the +humbler classes clothed in neat and simple attire. If people +would only follow the good advice of old Polonius to his +son,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,<br></span> +<span class="i0">But not express'd in fancy<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a>,'<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>there would be less sin, and less want, and less misery in the +world."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 91]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a><b>CHAPTER X</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE PAVEMENT</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Isa.</span> liv. 11.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 92]</span> +<span class="i0">"How all things glow with life and thought,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Where'er our faithful fathers trod!<br></span> +<span class="i0">The very ground with speech is fraught,<br></span> +<span class="i1">The air is eloquent of God.<br></span> +<span class="i0">In vain would doubt or mockery hide<br></span> +<span class="i1">The buried echoes of the past;<br></span> +<span class="i0">A voice of strength—a voice of pride—<br></span> +<span class="i1">Here dwells amid the stones and blast!<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Still points the tower, and pleads the bell,<br></span> +<span class="i1">The solemn arches breathe in stone,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Window and wall have lips to tell<br></span> +<span class="i1">The mighty faith of days unknown;—<br></span> +<span class="i0">Yea! flood, and breeze, and battle shock<br></span> +<span class="i1">Shall beat upon this Church in vain,<br></span> +<span class="i0">She stands a daughter of the rock—<br></span> +<span class="i1">The changeless God's eternal fane!"<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">R. S. Hawker.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 93]</span> +<a name="image107" id="image107"></a> +<img src="images/illus107.jpg" width="351" height="446" alt="Church of St. John the Baptist, Kidmore End" title=""> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE PAVEMENT</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 95]</span> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;"> +<a name="image109" id="image109"></a> +<img src="images/illus109.jpg" width="150" height="151" alt="Encaustic Tiles, Brooke Church" title=""> +</div> + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">M</span>r. Acres and his family +attended Morning +Prayer at St. Catherine's +the day following the Vicar's +lecture; and after service they +examined with greater interest +than ever they had done before +the floor of the church—indeed +Mr. Acres confessed +that till that morning he had +never had the curiosity to +walk up either of the aisles of +the church with the view of finding any object of interest on the +pavement. In the course of their search they now discovered +a large flat stone, hitherto unknown even to the Vicar; the stone, +when cleansed from the dust which had accumulated upon it (for +it was placed in a remote corner of the church), was very white; +it was engraved with the figure of a priest, and the incised lines +were filled with a black resinous substance, so that it almost +looked like a large engraving on paper, or still more like one of +the copies of brasses which Ernest had exhibited the night +before<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a>. But what most attracted their attention was the +curious old <i>pavement tiles</i>, of various patterns, which they found +in different parts of the floor of the church. Their admiration +of these ancient works of art was soon so deeply engaged, and +their desire to know more about them so excited, that Ernest +was speedily despatched to the vestry to request the Vicar to +come and satisfy their inquiries.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 96]</span></p> + +<p>"I rejoice to see you, Mr. Vicar," said the Squire, as Mr. +Ambrose approached; "pray come and save me from any +further confessions of ignorance: the children have been persecuting +me with a hundred questions about these ancient tiles, +and I really am not able to answer one of them. We must +again be dependent upon your kindness for some information +on the subject."</p> + +<p>"Then, if you please, we will walk and talk, as I must go +this morning to see old Wood, at the Warren Lodge; the poor +man is very ill."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we shall enjoy that," exclaimed Constance, "and do, +Mr. Ambrose, give us a nice lecture like you did last night."</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear, if it is to be a real lecture, we will suppose +this gravel path to be my platform, and your father and yourselves +to be my highly respectable and most intelligent audience; +and so, making my bow to the company, I will begin.—There is +considerable uncertainty as to the origin of these tiles. Most +people suppose that the old Roman tessellated pavement suggested +the idea of representing figures on tiles. But we may +imagine them to be merely the result of successive improvements. +First, there was the rude tile or brick; then, in very early times, +the makers impressed their own particular marks upon them; +and from this simple practice we can easily imagine the gradual +introduction of the elaborate patterns you were looking at in +the church."</p> + +<p>"If you please, Mr. Ambrose," said Constance, "will you tell +us what was the Roman tessellated pavement?"</p> + +<p>"It was composed of a number of square pieces of hard-burnt +clay, like dice, of different colours; these were arranged to form +a pattern, and then firmly fixed in very strong cement. They +were exceedingly durable, and often of most elegant design. +When found in the ruins of Roman villas, which they frequently +are, they generally appear almost as fresh as when they were +put down. Tessellated or mosaic pavements are to be found +in a few old churches; the most beautiful now existing in +England, are in Westminster Abbey, and in Canterbury Cathedral, +near the tomb of Thomas à Becket."</p> + +<p>"But don't you think it probable," inquired Mr. Acres, "if +these tiles date pretty nearly back to the time when the mosaic<span class="pagenum">[Pg 97]</span> +pavement was used, that the pavement suggested the tiles? +there seems to be some similarity of pattern, and I noticed that +in one part of the church there are <i>plain</i> tiles of different colours +arranged so as to form a pattern<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a>, which seems, on a larger scale, +a close imitation of the mosaic pavement."</p> + +<p>"It may be so; and this view seems confirmed by the circumstance +that in some foreign churches the tiles are mixed in +the same pavement with mosaic work. It certainly seems a +natural transition from the one to the other.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;"> +<a name="image111" id="image111"></a> +<img src="images/illus111.jpg" width="150" height="158" alt="Encaustic Tiles, Brooke Church" title=""> +</div> + +<p>Encaustic tiles exist in abundance +and great beauty in Normandy; +and though, as I have +said, we cannot fix a precise +date to their introduction, it +seems not improbable that we +are indebted to that country +for the first idea of using them +in the pavement of our +churches, since in some instances +they appear to be coeval +with the erection of the +Norman churches in which they +are found. Some have upon +them the <i>semi-circular headed arch</i>, which is characteristic of +Norman times; and as no doubt the later tiles frequently indicate +by their patterns the period of ecclesiastical architecture +to which they may be referred, most likely these may be equally +relied upon as marking the Norman period. In Ireland, tiles +of this date are more common than in this country. Their +<i>general</i> use, however, has prevailed among us from about A.D. +1250 to A.D. 1550, and the finest and most interesting specimens +we have remaining are at Gloucester and Malvern.</p> + +<p>There are several different kinds of ornamental pavement +of which specimens remain. In the ruins of Fountains +Abbey are specimens having the pattern pierced through +the entire tile, and afterwards filled in with clay of another +colour. At Canterbury there are circles of stone pavement<span class="pagenum">[Pg 98]</span> +with patterns cut in relief, the spaces being filled in with +dark cement. In the early stages of the art the pattern of the +tiles was sometimes left in relief, the tile being of one colour +only, but the uneven surface was found to be very inconvenient +for walking upon. Encaustic tiles—so called because the +patterns are <i>burnt into</i> them—are by far the most common sort +of tile pavement in our English churches, especially in the +southern and western counties."</p> + +<p>"I suppose, Mr. Ambrose," said Constance, "that the tiles in +our church are of that sort?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, all of them, both the new and old, except the few of a +different kind which Mr. Acres spoke of just now."</p> + +<p>"And will you be so kind as to tell us how they contrived to +make those pretty patterns on them?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; it was a very simple process: very much in the +same way as Bridget makes those pretty pats of butter we +admire so much; quite the same, if Bridget would only fill in +the spaces between the patterns with butter of another colour. +They first made the tile of clay, and then impressed it with a +wooden stamp; then it was dried or burnt, then some thin clay +or cement of another colour (usually white) was poured into the +pattern, then it was glazed over and burnt, the glazing material +making the white a rich yellow, and deepening the colour of the +tile. The pattern is sometimes perfect in a single tile, sometimes +four, eight, or a large number are required to perfect the +design. Several ancient kilns for their manufacture have been +discovered<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a>. Some of these manufactories, it is evident, were +very popular; for we find that the same kiln sometimes supplied +a great number of churches. Most of our old churches have +at some time been paved with these encaustic tiles; but in +all cases they have in great measure been destroyed or +removed when other beauties of God's house have been defaced, +but often too where the hand of man has spared, the +hand of Time has obliterated.</p> + +<p>"We find every variety of pattern upon these tiles. At +Malvern and elsewhere are many letters on single tiles: sometimes +they are alphabetically arranged, sometimes they read<span class="pagenum">[Pg 99]</span> +backwards, and sometimes to a centre. Frequently the tiles +have upon them texts of Scripture or other inscriptions, such +as 'The time is short,' 'Wait for the knell.' At Malvern is +a very remarkable tile; it contains the following curious +direction to executors, and was probably intended to be placed +over a tomb:—</p> + +<div class="centpoem"><div class="centstanza"> +'Thenke . mon . þi . liffe<br> + maij . not . cũ . endure .<br> + þat . þow . dost . þi . self<br> + Of . þat . þow . art . sure .<br> + but . þat . þow . kepist <br> + un . to . þi . sectur . care .<br> + and . eũ . hit . auaile . þe<br> + hit . is . but . aventure<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a>.'<br> +</div></div> + +<p>Sacred emblems are very common on encaustic tiles, and especially +symbols of the Passion; within a single shield is sometimes +to be found the cross, crown of thorns, the nails, hammer, +scourge, spear, ladder, dice, vessel for vinegar, sponge on a rod +of hyssop, and rarely, a sort of bill, perhaps representing an +instrument used in removing the Body from the cross. The +cross alone, floriated, is frequently composed of many tiles; +but it enters too into the great majority of those geometrical +and floriated patterns which form so large a portion of the +encaustic pavements of most churches. Armorial bearings and +mottoes of benefactors, founders, and others are frequently met +with. At Great Bedwyn, and in the ruins of Chertsey Abbey, +have been found knights in armour and other most interesting +figures, throwing considerable light on the history of the armour +and costumes of the period. At Westminster are figures of a +king, queen, and abbot, which are supposed to represent King +Henry III., his Queen, and the Abbot of Westminster. Then +I have often seen the cock, the emblem of vigilance; the fox, +the emblem of subtlety; the pelican, of piety."</p> + +<p>"Why," quietly inquired Ernest, "is the pelican an emblem +of piety?"<span class="pagenum">[Pg 100]</span></p> + +<p>"There is an old legend which tells us that the young of a +pelican were once saved from death by starvation by the parent +bird tearing open her breast and feeding them with her own +blood. This has from very early times been considered a very +beautiful emblem of that Sacrifice which has been offered by +Jesus Christ to save us from eternal death. Other emblems +are—the circle, of eternity; the <i>fleur de lis</i>, of the Blessed +Virgin; the triangle, of the Trinity; the fish, of the Second +Person of the Trinity."</p> + +<p>"Now do tell me what that means, please, Mr. Ambrose," +said Constance; "I cannot see why the fish should be so sacred +an emblem."</p> + +<p>"As you don't understand Greek, my dear, it is not a matter +of surprise that you have not understood this oft-recurring +emblem. You must know that the Greek word for fish is +ἱχθὑς [ichthys], and the letters in this word form the first letters of +each word of a Greek sentence, of which this is the English +translation:—'Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour;' +hence the employment of this sacred symbol. Other devices +are stags, hounds, antelopes, and other animals; swans, +and other birds; emblems of trades, &c. Some appear ludicrous +to us, though no doubt many of them were originally intended +to teach some useful lesson. At Little Marlow is a fool's head, +or cock's comb; at Godmersham, on several tiles is a bending +old man, with a staff in his hand, and on his head a fool's cap, +representing age and folly. It would seem, however, that some +of these grotesque figures were manufactured for no very useful +purpose, as is evidenced by the penance once inflicted on a +monk of Normandy for making tiles of this description<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>. Encaustic +tiles have sometimes been used for memorials of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 101]</span> +departed<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a>. In the ruins of Evesham Abbey, <i>under</i> a stone +coffin, was found a pavement of tiles, on which were initials +and a cross. <i>Above</i> a stone coffin, in the ruins of Kirkstall +Abbey, was found, in 1713, a pavement of similar tiles; in +Gloucester Cathedral is a tile to the memory of John Hertford; +and at Monmouth one to Thomas Coke and Alice his wife. +These works of art are not only to be admired as the most +suitable decorations for the floors of God's house; they are +also interesting as specimens of art at various periods; frequently +they throw light on the history of churches and religious +foundations, and occasionally also of private families. I rejoice +to see them again claiming the attention of modern +artists and manufacturers, and finding a place once more in +the churches, which on all sides are happily being restored to +their former beauty and appropriateness.—But here we are at +Wood's cottage."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 103]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a><b>CHAPTER XI</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE WALLS</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Peace be within thy walls."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Ps.</span> cxxii. 7.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 104]</span> +<span class="i0">"Now view the walls: the church is compass'd round,<br></span> +<span class="i0">As much for safety, as for ornament:<br></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis an enclosure, and no common ground;<br></span> +<span class="i1">'Tis God's freehold, and but our tenement.<br></span> +<span class="i3">Tenants at will, and yet in tail, we be:<br></span> +<span class="i3">Our children have the same right to't as we.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Remember there must be no gaps left ope,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Where God hath fenced, for fear of false illusions.<br></span> +<span class="i0">God will have all or none: allows no scope<br></span> +<span class="i0">For sin's encroachments, or men's own intrusions.<br></span> +<span class="i2">Close binding locks His Laws together fast:<br></span> +<span class="i2">He that plucks out the first, pulls down the last."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">George Herbert.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 105]</span> +<a name="image119" id="image119"></a> +<img src="images/illus119.jpg" width="351" height="503" alt="St. Andrew's Church, Halstead" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE WALLS</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 107]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">T</span>he Warren Lodge was one of those pretty little cottages +which are often to be found nestling in bright, peaceful +corners, about the parks and estates of such wealthy squires as +Mr. Acres; men whose kindliness of heart and whose refinement +of taste induce them to combine the picturesque with +the comfortable, in the houses they provide for their tenants +and retainers. It was built very near to the Warren Gate of the +park, and old Wood had been placed here because, being a spot +little frequented, it was a quiet resting-place for him in his old +age. Opposite the cottage was a lovely glen, where yew-trees +and laurels, mingling with oaks and beeches, hung in +many beautiful and fantastic forms over a greensward which +all the year round never lost its verdure or its softness. +Seldom did old Master Wood and his wife wander farther from +their cottage than the end of this quiet glen; but that was their +daily walk, and Mr. Acres had put up two rustic seats for them +to rest upon, so that the old couple might accomplish their daily +journey without any great fatigue. But the old man was now +too weak for this.</p> + +<p>"I think you and the children had better go in, and leave me +outside," said Mr. Acres, "as possibly poor Wood may feel more +at his ease if I am not present."</p> + +<p>So Mr. Ambrose and the three children entered the cottage. +It was, as always, the picture of neatness and cleanliness; +there were a few well-tended geraniums in the windows, and +some nice pictures on the walls—not the gaudy, vulgar prints +which are so commonly found in the cottages of the poor, but +really good and well-coloured engravings of sacred subjects—a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 108]</span> +supply of which Mr. Ambrose always kept on sale at a very low +price<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>. There was enough of neat furniture in the rooms; and +on a nice bed, with snow-white drapery, lay the poor old man. +After a short conversation Mr. Ambrose read the twelfth chapter +of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and then, when he had +given a short explanation of the chapter, all knelt down whilst +he said some collects from the Office of the Visitation of the +Sick, and a prayer applicable to the special circumstances of +these humble cottagers.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image122" id="image122"></a> +<img src="images/illus122.jpg" width="351" height="264" alt="Ancient Wall Paintings in Kimpton Church" title=""> +</div> + +<p>The prayers ended, the old man rose up in his bed, and said, +"Ah, sir, I have often thought of that chapter you read just +now, when I was able to go to our dear old church. Just +opposite my seat, you know, was the picture on the wall of the +man giving a poor thirsting creature a cup of water, and of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 109]</span> +another giving a loaf of bread to somebody that looked very +hungry. When Mr. Greekhurst was at our church, years ago, +you know, sir, he used to preach very learned sermons, and we +poor people couldn't understand much about them, but there +was my text and sermon too, straight before me, and I always +remembered the picture if I didn't remember the sermon. I +really think that looking on the old picture made me somehow +more kindly disposed to some of my neighbours. I suppose it +has been there a great many years, sir?"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image123" id="image123"></a> +<img src="images/illus123.jpg" width="351" height="235" alt=" Ancient Wall Paintings in Kimpton Church" title=""> +</div> + +<p>"Yes, my friend; I should think about five hundred years."</p> + +<p>"So long as that! Well then, I hope it has taught a good +lesson to many before me."</p> + +<p>"No doubt it has; and though it is now almost worn away +from the wall, you will be glad to know that we have the same +subject in the new painted window close by, so the old sermon +will not be lost."</p> + +<p>"'Tis strange, sir, how well one remembers pictures of this +sort, and how they make one think about things which, but +for them, we certainly might not care to inquire much about. +Now when I was a young man I never thought a great deal of +that beautiful chapter where St. Paul says so much about charity. +I had often heard the chapter read, and sometimes read it<span class="pagenum">[Pg 110]</span> +myself, but still it never came to my mind how necessary a +thing charity was for us to have, till one day I went to Sunday-morning +service at an old church near our home. I got to the +church some time before service, so I walked about the churchyard, +and looked round the church, and there were pictures all +round the outside of the walls of the church<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a>, explaining that +chapter. There was one man bringing all his riches, and every +thing he had, to give to the poor, and there was another poor +man being burnt to death, and so on; and then at the last it +said that, without love to God and man, all this was good for +nothing. Now, sir, I don't recollect a single word of hundreds +of sermons I have heard, but I shall never forget those +pictures."</p> + +<p>"Very likely, for most of us remember better what we <i>see</i> +than what we <i>hear</i>, and it is a great mistake not to teach people +through the <i>eye</i> as well as the ear. But we must say good-bye, +as Mr. Acres is waiting for us in the park. God bless you, and, +if it is His will, I hope you may yet be strong enough to enjoy +many of your old walks."</p> + +<p>On their return home they followed a path which led them +again through the churchyard of St. Catherine's, and were soon +joined by the Squire, whose patience had been somewhat exhausted +by the long stay of the little party at old Wood's +cottage.</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 111]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a><b>CHAPTER XII</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE WALLS</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates +praise."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Isa.</span> lx. 18.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 112]</span> +<span class="i0">"Behold in heaven yon glorious bow,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Which spans the gleaming world below!<br></span> +<span class="i0">The hues distinct in order glow,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Yet each in each doth melt unseen,<br></span> +<span class="i0">That none can mark the bound between:<br></span> +<span class="i0">Lo, such is Faith's mysterious scroll,<br></span> +<span class="i0">A multiform harmonious whole,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Together gather'd for our aid,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And in the darken'd heights display'd:<br></span> +<span class="i0">The Church shall ne'er that emblem want<br></span> +<span class="i0">Of her eternal covenant."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>The Cathedral.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 113]</span> +<a name="image127" id="image127"></a> +<img src="images/illus127.jpg" width="351" height="561" alt="St. Michael's Church, Gloucester" title=""> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE WALLS</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 115]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">M</span>r. Dole, the proprietor of the village emporium, +where all sorts of inferior wares were to be had at the +highest obtainable prices, was one of those persons who seem +sent into the world for the special purpose of preventing others +from being too happy in it. There are persons, no doubt, who +go through life always frowning upon their fellow-creatures, ever +throwing a dark shadow along the path before them; people +who persistently turn their backs upon the sunny side of human +life; who seem to think it wicked to take a bright and cheerful +view of any thing or any body on all God's earth; whose +whole countenances would be utterly revolutionized by the +faintest approach to an honest, friendly smile. Such persons, +we must believe, are often very sincere, and are endeavouring +to do good in their own way; nor must we say that they +always fail in their endeavour; nevertheless they are not the +sort of persons we care to have as our frequent companions. +It is true, there is enough about the lives of most of us to +make us often sorrowful; but no less true is it, that the man +who, leading a Christian life and doing God's work in the world, +preserves "a conscience void of offence to wards God and to wards +men" will take care that his outward demeanour does not make +his religion unlovely and repulsive in the sight of others. Mr. +Dole being of the class we have described, it was no wonder that +the village lads had honoured his name with an affix, and that +he was generally known among them as old Doleful; nor shall +we be surprised that his appearance in the churchyard just as +Mr. Acres and the Vicar entered it was not welcomed by them +with any excessive pleasure.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Mr. Dole," said both gentlemen, as they +approached him. But there was no responsive "Good evening" +from Mr. Dole. Now it is always a bad sign when a man will<span class="pagenum">[Pg 116]</span> +not return such a simple salutation as that: I never knew but one +who made me no answer when I wished him "Good evening;" +I was at once impressed with the idea that there was little good +in him, and my impression was correct, for in a few moments +after the fellow had put a light to the thatched house of a poor +neighbour who had offended him, and very soon the poor man's +house and goods were crackling in a mass of flame. But, it +must be confessed, Mr. Dole withheld his salutation from no +such motive as influenced this man. There was something +far too pleasant and cheerful about a kindly "Good evening" +to harmonize in any way with the tone of Mr. Dole's voice or +manner; but beyond this, he never said "Good morning" or +"Good evening" to any one <i>on principle</i>. The fact is, Mr. Dole belonged +to a portion of the sect of Anabaptists called "Calvinist +Baptists," and the extreme Calvinistic feature of his Creed had +become with him quite a monomania. The idea of <i>predestination</i> +haunted him every where and in every thing; it ran through +his whole life of thought, word, and action; with it he justified +all his own shortcomings, and it made him insensible to the right +motives and doings of others. He had become so accustomed +to look on the dark side of men and things, that he had gained +for himself a settled character of gloominess and suspicion, and +had quite lost sight of the Apostolic precept—"Be courteous." +Thus he did not believe that these two gentlemen meant what +they said, and <i>really wished</i> him to have a "Good evening;" +and, as regarded himself, he would have considered the words +as a flying in the face of Providence, a direful offence against +the phantom idol of inevitable Predestination which he had set +up in his own heart. To him it seemed only a mockery +to use those words of common courtesy, when—as he said +to himself—it was already ordained whether these persons +should have a good or a bad evening, and no words of his +could affect or alter their destiny. And so he simply said, +"How do you do, gentlemen?" But it was spoken in a +deep, sepulchral voice, as though he reserved to himself a +mental protest against even this small conformity to the +world's civility.</p> + +<p>"People are talking about the painting you have been doing +in the church, Mr. Ambrose, and I have just come up to look at<span class="pagenum">[Pg 117]</span> +it; not that I like that sort of thing, and I don't think the +parish money should be spent in that way."</p> + +<p>"You need not be at all anxious on that score, Mr. Dole, as +my friend here has defrayed the whole cost of the work; but let +us go into the church together."</p> + +<p>Now the line of thought which this man had so long adopted, +and the <i>one idea</i> he had cherished, had so dulled his heart and +mind to all sense of the beautiful that he could never appreciate, +like other people, what was pure and lovely, either in nature or +in art. No wonder then that he failed to admire the beautiful +decoration with which the Squire had adorned St. Catherine's +Church.</p> + +<p>First of all, Mr. Ambrose pointed out to him some old wall-paintings +of great interest, which had been recently discovered. +From these Mr. Acres had had the successive coats of whitewash +carefully removed, and, though they were several centuries old, +the colours were but little faded. Among the most curious +were a series of paintings which quite covered the north wall of +the chancel.</p> + +<p>"You will see, Mr. Dole, that these all represent events +in the life of our Blessed Lord. Here is the beginning of +the series; it is the Tree of Jesse, showing the descent of +our Lord in the line of David,—next is the Nativity,—next +the Adoration of the Magi,—then, the Massacre of the Holy +Innocents,—then, the Presentation in the temple; and there, +on the upper part of the wall, are—the Betrayal, our Lord +before Pilate, being Mocked, being Scourged, bearing His +Cross, His Crucifixion, and there, below the Crucifixion, His +descent from the Cross, and His Entombment<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>. These, you +see, Mr. Dole, are not only valuable as showing one way +in which our Church five hundred years ago set before the +eyes and minds of the people the human life of our Lord; but +they are still well suited for the sacred place they adorn, +inasmuch as they still serve to remind the worshipper in this +House of Prayer of the great truths they represent. I must,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 118]</span> +however, confess that we brought to light some paintings on +the walls of a different character; some of these were very +grotesque, others were from some cause or other objectionable. +These were copied, as possessing antiquarian interest, and were +then obliterated. It was long before we could bring our minds +to destroy these curious relics of old days<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a>, and had they<span class="pagenum">[Pg 119]</span> +occupied less conspicuous places in the church, I think we +should have been tempted to preserve them, but the House of +God has a higher use than to be a mere preserver of curiosities, +and to this higher use its decorations and all within it should +contribute."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image132" id="image132"></a> +<img src="images/illus132.jpg" width="351" height="323" alt="Ancient Wall Painting in Bedford Church" title=""> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Ambrose then explained the new wall-decorations which +had been painted by Mr. Acres. These consisted of groups +illustrating sacred subjects, texts of Holy Scripture mixed +with foliage and tracery; and, by clever introduction of foliage +and holy texts among the old work, he had made the old and +the new to harmonize very well. The colours were well +arranged, and all was done with a due reference to the architectural +features of the church. Before this time the only +attempt at ornament for the walls of the church consisted +of some square boards, put up about fifty years ago, on which +were painted some ill-selected sentences, whilst beneath each +sentence was painted a human head of inhuman ugliness.</p> + +<p>Not one word had as yet been spoken to the Vicar by his +seemingly attentive listener. At length he said, in his usual +dismal tone, "I don't see any use in it, sir. To my mind, our +little Rehoboth down in the village is more like the simplicity +of the Gospel. Besides, I call all this a breaking of the second +commandment."</p> + +<p>"I leave you to judge whether the mean little meeting-house +you call Rehoboth, or this beautiful church, is most in accordance +with the only patterns we have in God's Word of houses dedicated +to His worship, or most fitting as types of the Heavenly +Temple whose magnificence is described in such glowing language +by St. John; but as regards these paintings, the pictures +and toys you sell in your shop are just as much a breaking of +the second commandment; for these are no more made to +worship than are those."</p> + +<p>"But nobody will kneel down before my toys and pictures; +if they kneel at all, however, in your church, they must kneel +before these pictures. I call them idolatrous images, and I say +they are worshipped."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 120]</span></p> + +<p>"And, by the same mode of reasoning, I say, Mr. Dole, that +the people at your meeting-house break the second commandment; +for they fall down to whitewash, and worship it."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Why, only this: that turn whichever way they will to +worship, they must turn to one of your four whitewashed walls. +But let us be quite fair to each other. The truth is, you don't +worship whitewash, nor do we worship images; but whilst we +think it most in accordance with reason and religion to decorate +our walls with sacred subjects, such as are likely to suggest +solemn and holy thoughts, and to make our churches as beautiful +as possible, you, on the contrary, seem to regard it as a +religious duty to make your meeting-houses as ugly as possible. +And now I must say good-bye, Mr. Dole."</p> + +<p>"Sir, I should like to meet you here again some day."</p> + +<p>"I only wish we could at least meet here every Sunday. +Good-bye."</p> + +<p>"I almost think," said Mr. Acres, as they left the church, +"the outside of our church walls are as interesting as their +interior. The north wall is evidently the earliest part of the +church. It contains some Roman bricks, placed herring-bone +fashion, among the old Norman rubble. This, doubtless, was +erected immediately after the destruction of the little Saxon +church with its wooden walls<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> which once stood on this very +site; then come the Early English walls of the chancel, then +the very interesting specimens of brick-work of the sixteenth +century in the tower and western walls. But you have given +Mr. Dole and us all such a long and useful lecture on the <i>inside</i> +of the walls, that we must not stop to say any more about their +outside."</p> + +<p>"I must just say this, my friend, respecting the outside walls, +that I can forgive a builder for any fault more easily than for +want of <i>reality</i> in the exterior of a church. For the sake of +decoration and neatness it may be desirable that the internal +walls should be covered with cement or plaster, but there is no +excuse for so covering the church externally. If mean materials<span class="pagenum">[Pg 121]</span> +are used, let the mean materials appear; but it is unpardonable +to use the mean and spread over it a false pretence of +the costly. Brick walls are often very beautiful, and not +inferior to flint or stone; but if they are of brick, let the brick +be seen, and let it not pretend to be <i>stone</i>."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image135" id="image135"></a> +<img src="images/illus135.jpg" width="351" height="377" alt="Wall Painting" title=""> +</div> + +<br> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 123]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><b>CHAPTER XIII</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE WINDOWS</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates +of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant +stones."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Isa.</span> liv. 12.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 124]</span> +<span class="i4">" ... Sometimes thoughts proud and wild<br></span> +<span class="i2">Have risen, till I saw the sunbeams steal<br></span> +<span class="i0">Through painted glass at evensong, and weave<br></span> +<span class="i0">Their threefold tints upon the marble near,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Faith, Prayer, and Love, the spirit of a child!"<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Faber.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 125]</span> +<a name="image139" id="image139"></a> +<img src="images/illus139.jpg" width="351" height="527" alt="Church of St. John, Brandenburg" title=""> +</div><br> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 127]</span> +<a name="image141" id="image141"></a> +<img src="images/illus141.jpg" width="351" height="369" alt="Doorway, St. Stephen's Church, Tangermünde" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE WINDOWS</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 129]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">M</span>r. Acres and his family had now learnt, from their +many conversations with the Vicar on the subject, +to take a deep interest in church architecture, and were ever +seeking and finding some new beauties either in the solid +building or the ornaments of their own ancient church, which +now they looked upon with quite a new feeling of pride and +admiration. When, therefore, Mr. Ambrose was a visitor at the +Hall, he was not unfrequently called upon to deliver a short +drawing-room lecture on some portion of the church or its +furniture. "Now, Mr. Ambrose," said the Squire, on one of +these occasions, "as we are only a family party this evening, +will you kindly give us some more information on our favourite +topic of conversation lately? I see the same request is on the +lips of all these little people, but they are not so impudent, +I suppose, as I am. You will, I hope, find us more profitable +pupils than Mr. Dole, to whom you specially addressed your +lecture in the church the other day."</p> + +<p>"I am not so sure of that; for what I said to him, if it did +no more, at least set him <i>thinking</i>; and that is a great point, +you know. You see, those kind of people, as a rule, never read +and never hear any thing really worth reading or hearing about +matters of this sort. They are simply taught to believe that all +outward form and ceremony in the Services, and all outward +<i>meaning</i> and <i>beauty</i> in the fabric of the church, are idolatrous +and superstitious, and they care to inquire no further than that. +Their prejudice is fostered by ignorance, and to lead them to +<i>inquire</i> is the first step to wards inducing conviction. Then, +how very little our own people generally know about these +things, and how seldom comparatively they are prepared with a +ready answer with which to meet the objections of persons who +are even more ignorant than themselves! This surely ought not +to be. If we place beautiful and costly ornaments and furniture +in our churches, the poorest person in the parish should be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 130]</span> +taught the meaning of them; and if the Stones of the Temple +have each a lesson to teach, the poorest person in the parish +ought to know what they say. But I am wandering from my +point: our last subject was the <i>walls</i> of the church; what shall +we talk about to-day, Constance?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think the <i>windows</i> should come next, Mr. Ambrose; +but there are so many different kinds of windows, that, of course, +you cannot tell us all that might be said about them."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, my dear; I can only tell you a very small part +of their history, but still enough, perhaps, to increase the +interest you already feel on the subject. First, then, I shall say +something about the <i>stone-work</i> of the windows; and what I +say about windows applies very much also to the <i>doors</i> of a +church, only the doors are generally much more richly ornamented. +Now there are some very simple rules by which we +may commonly know from the windows pretty nearly at what +period that particular part of the church was built. You cannot, +of course, always tell from any thing still existing at what +time the church was <i>first</i> built, because often no part whatever +of the first church is remaining. The font, from its sheltered +position, is the most frequently preserved relic of the original +church; sometimes one doorway alone remains, and sometimes +but a single window to mark the earliest date of the church.</p> + +<p>"As I must not puzzle your brains with the hard words +employed by persons learned in church building, I do not +profess to give you the nice distinctions by which they arrive +almost at exact dates. Ours must be a very rapid glance at the +whole subject. The two great distinct characters, then, in church +windows, as also in other parts of the building, are the <i>semi-circular +arch</i> and the <i>pointed arch</i>. The former is to be found +in churches erected before the year 1150, and the latter since +that year; but of course there are exceptions. The earliest +round-headed windows (that the few buildings in which they are +found were originally intended as Christian temples, I do not +of course affirm) are the <i>Roman</i>, and these are easily known, +for they are nearly always partly composed of red bricks<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a>. Then<span class="pagenum">[Pg 131]</span> +come the <i>Saxon</i>; these are built of stone, but are quite plain, +and generally as rude and rough as the Roman. You know the +Romans held possession of our country from the year 50 before +Christ till A.D. 450; and then the Saxons held the country till +A.D. 1066; but it is impossible accurately to fix the dates of +most of the churches they built. Next follow the <i>Norman</i>; +these are more ornamental, and not so roughly executed; and +after the Norman Conquest, when many clever builders and +masons came over from Normandy, they were often most +beautifully decorated. The figures of persons and animals, +indeed, that are sometimes to be found (but more especially +above the doorways) at this time seem very quaint and curious +to us now, and often quite unintelligible, but no doubt they +once all had an useful meaning and were specimens of the +highest art of the time; very many of them are Scripture +subjects. Sometimes triangular windows are to be met with of +the Saxon and Norman periods, but very rarely. As I said +before, some of their stone carvings appear to us to be very +quaint and grotesque, and so too the arrangement of their +windows was sometimes fanciful; they seem to have attempted +occasionally<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a>, to represent the features of the face, the doorway +representing the mouth, and the windows the eyes and nose.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 399px;"> +<a name="image145" id="image145"></a> +<img src="images/illus145.jpg" width="399" height="299" alt="Crowmarsh Church" title=""> +</div> + +<p>"The reason why the windows were in some instances so +small, we may imagine was because they were sometimes not<span class="pagenum">[Pg 132]</span> +glazed, and it was desirable that, to keep out the wind and rain +and the winter's cold, they should be only just large enough to +admit the necessary light. I have lately seen an old Norman +window which had been long bricked up, in which there had +evidently never been any glass<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a>. We need not be surprised at +this, for even so lately as in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it +was no uncommon thing for the windows in private houses to +have no glass in them.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 144px;"> +<img src="images/illus146.jpg" width="144" height="77" alt="Arches diagram" title=""> +</div><p>"Now we come to the pointed-headed arches. From about +A.D. 1150 to A.D. 1200, which is called the <i>Transition</i> period +the two styles were a good deal mixed. People have different, +opinions as to the origin of these pointed arches. A learned +friend of mine has an idea of his own about it, which he calls +<i>the finger theory</i>. He supposes that all church arches and tracery +may be derived from different positions in which the fingers +may be placed when the hands are clasped as in prayer, and that +from these, first the round, and then the pointed arch was suggested +as a fit design to be adopted for a House of Prayer. It +is at least an ingenious and a pleasing conception. Some have +imagined that the meeting of branches in a grove of trees +first gave the idea of the pointed arch. Often, as I have +looked down the avenue by old Wood's cottage, has the +opening at the opposite end reminded me of the eastern +window of some splendid cathedral, whilst the long intervening +rows of trees, with their branches uniting overhead, has suggested +to my mind the pillars and groined roof of the building. +Our old heathen forefathers knew well the grand effect of +these magnificent temples of nature's building, when they +selected them as the places best adapted for their awful +sacrifices, and the worship of their +'Unknown God<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a>.' But it seems +most probable that one style of +architecture naturally introduced +another, and that the pointed +followed naturally from the semi-circular +arch. When the builders +saw what a beautiful arch was produced by a number of their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 133]</span> +old semi-circular arches intersecting each other, they gradually +introduced the newly-discovered pointed arch, and at length, +finding that it admitted of such a far greater variety of beautiful +tracery in the window, they abandoned the old style +altogether.</p> + + +<p>"The first pure style of pointed windows is called the <i>Early +English</i><a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a>, which prevailed from about A.D. 1200 to A.D. 1300. +It is often very simple, the plain lancet-shaped window being +the most common; it frequently has the same ornaments as +the Norman, but its peculiar ornament is a flower, almost +round, called the <i>ball-flower</i>. This was followed, up to about +A.D. 1400, by a more graceful flowing style, called the <i>Decorated</i> +or <i>Florid</i>, and it is chiefly to be distinguished by the +waving flame-like character of the stone-work in the upper +part of the window. Then next we have quite a different +style, which is called the <i>Perpendicular</i>, so named from its +upright or perpendicular lines, some of which run up uninterruptedly +from the bottom to the top of the window. This +style is peculiar to England, and windows of this character +are very rarely to be found elsewhere. In the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries, the arch of the window gradually becomes +depressed, first sinking to the <i>Tudor</i> arch, and then losing its +pointed character altogether and becoming quite flat; and +this introduced what, from its comparative want of beauty, is +called the <i>Debased</i> style. The windows of this period were +usually square-headed, and possessed, like the other parts of +the building, little ornament. It prevailed till the middle of +the seventeenth century, and may be considered the second +childhood of Church Architecture; and it was certainly far +inferior to the first. Succeeding to this period came all those +hideous semi-classical erections, most of which, I believe, were +built in the reign of Queen Anne, though some were before and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 134]</span> +some after; and those still more unsightly parodies on Gothic +architecture which were erected at the close of the last and +commencement of the present century. In our own day we +have far <i>advanced</i> by a complete <i>retrogression</i>, and churches +are mostly copies of one or other of the styles I have mentioned. +If, however, our present age may boast of a church +architecture of its own, it will undoubtedly be that of those +most beautiful <i>brick</i> churches which have been but lately +erected, such as All Saints' and St. Alban's, London, and +St. James', Oxford."</p> + +<p>"You have not told us any thing about the <i>round</i> windows, +Mr. Ambrose," said Constance; "you know we have a very +pretty one in our church."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I ought to have told you that these circular windows +are to be found in all styles of architecture, usually at the west +end of the church. They are called rose windows and marigold +windows, from their supposed likeness to those flowers; +and St. Catherine's windows, from their resemblance to the +wheel on which she suffered martyrdom. It is likely that this +window was placed in our church because it is dedicated to +St. Catherine."</p> + +<p>"That leads me to ask," said Mr. Acres, "what <i>symbolism</i> +there may be in the windows of a church; for in your sermon +last Sunday you said that there was a lesson to be learnt from +all the speechless stones of the sanctuary."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and every window in the church should remind us +of certain Christian truths. The <i>light</i> which they admit +should make us think of Him who is the 'Light of the world,' +'a Light to lighten the Gentiles,' 'the Day-spring from on +high,' 'the Sun of Righteousness,' 'that lighteth every man +that cometh into the world.' The window with its double +compartments reminds us of the two natures of Christ; the +triple window, and the many triple forms in it, of the Trinity<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a>.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 135]</span> +But it is of course most chiefly in its storied panes that the +church window becomes our teacher."</p> + +<p>"Certainly; I see that: and, by-the-by, as I am as ignorant +as my children about the history of stained glass, please +tell us something about that before we part."</p> + +<p>"I will, gladly. As far as we know, stained glass was never +used before about the year 850; but when it once came into +general use, it would appear that no church was considered +complete unless every window was furnished with it. At +first, it probably consisted of rude imitations of old mosaic +patterns<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a>. Then figures were introduced, which depended for +their general effect upon broad black lines either produced by +lead or colour. The old stained glass may always be known +by the deep richness of its colours, especially of the blue and +ruby. Probably Canterbury Cathedral possesses the earliest +and best specimens remaining, the date of some of which is +about A.D. 1120<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a>. In the glass of this time you find small +medallions containing several figures, the surrounding parts +being filled with tracery. Next come small single figures, or +groups of figures, with or without canopies, with border +tracery and foliage; sometimes there are the shields of +founders and benefactors. About A.D. 1350 larger figures of +saints were painted, each occupying a whole compartment of +the window, with larger and more elaborate canopies. Now, +too, windows began to be <i>mortuary</i>, and contained figures of +deceased persons, with their shields and banners. In the following +century single subjects often extended over several<span class="pagenum">[Pg 136]</span> +compartments, or even the whole of the window. Sentences +in old English letters were frequently painted, issuing from the +mouths of figures (just as we find them on monumental brasses +of the same date), and also in various other parts of the +window. One colour only, commonly yellow, with black lines +to mark the features and dresses, was now, and also before +this time, frequently used.</p> + +<p>"At this period glass painters fell into a great error by +studying more to paint pictures, correct in all the lesser and +unimportant parts of the drawing, than to produce a pleasing +and solemn distant effect; they often lost the effect of a grand +accessory to the beauty and harmony of a Gothic temple, in +order to gain that of a piece of painted calico. From about +A.D. 1600 this art gradually declined, and, with some exceptions, +the glass painting and architecture of our churches fell +together, the inferior artist of the former being often employed +in depicting the debased style of the latter. Immense quantities +of stained glass were destroyed by the sacrilegious hands +of the Puritans in the seventeenth century<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>, and of course +much, from its brittle nature, has otherwise perished; enough, +however, remains to show how splendidly our churches were +formerly decorated with it, and to afford invaluable aid to +those who are now engaged in promoting the happy revival of +this noble art.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 231px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 137]</span> +<a name="image151" id="image151"></a> +<img src="images/illus151.jpg" width="231" height="498" alt="Stained Glass Windows in Great Malvern Church" title=""> +</div><br> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 231px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 139]</span> +<a name="image153" id="image153"></a> +<img src="images/illus153.jpg" width="231" height="473" alt="Stained Glass Windows in Great Malvern Church" title=""> +</div><br> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 231px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 141]</span> +<a name="image155" id="image155"></a> +<img src="images/illus155.jpg" width="231" height="461" alt="Stained Glass Windows in Great Malvern Church" title=""> +</div><br> + +<p>"There is just one other point to which I must briefly allude—the +value of stained glass windows as <i>historical records</i>. +There can be no objection to windows in some parts of the +church (specially those placed over the arches of the nave +which are called <i>clerestory</i> windows) being thus employed, +though the presence of these subjects in some parts would be +most objectionable. There are some most interesting windows +of this character still remaining. I have only time to notice +some of those in Great Malvern Church. I have brought you +some drawings of these windows; they represent some events +in the life of St. Werstan, who was martyred in a small chapel<span class="pagenum">[Pg 143]</span> +near to the spot where these windows are. This glass preserves +the only ancient record we have of this saint. In the first pane +you see there is a representation of Werstan himself; the hills +at the back, with the flowers and ferns upon them, probably +represent the Malvern hills; and the painting above, the plot +of ground on which his church was built. The key has reference +either to the material fabric or the spiritual efficacy of +its sacred services, and the four corner-stones, held by four +angels, each with three fingers raised in the attitude of blessing +in the name of the Trinity, are doubtless intended to indicate +the favour of Heaven on his pious work. In the next pane +the figure and hills are repeated, and above is a representation +of the different ceremonies attending the consecration of the +completed church. In the third pane you see the hills, with +their flowers and ferns, covering the whole background; in the +lower part, the now regular services of St. Werstan's little +church appear to be represented by three choristers; and +standing near them are two persons who are probably their +instructors. The upper part represents the martyrdom of the +saint in his own chapel. The stained glass in Great Malvern +Church contains other historical records, but we have not time +to notice them."</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image157" id="image157"></a> +<img src="images/illus157.jpg" width="351" height="285" alt="Rose Window, Cremona Cathedral" title=""> +</div><br> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 145]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><b>CHAPTER XIV</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>A LOOSE STONE IN THE BUILDING</p> + +<p class='larger center'>A DIGRESSION</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Let the priests repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever +any breach shall be found."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'>2 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> xii. 5.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 146]</span> +<span class="i0">"Men, who have ceased to reverence, soon defy<br></span> +<span class="i0">Their forefathers; lo! sects are form'd, and split<br></span> +<span class="i0">With morbid restlessness;—the ecstatic fit<br></span> +<span class="i0">Spreads wide; though special mysteries multiply,<br></span> +<span class="i0"><i>The saints must govern</i>, is their common cry;<br></span> +<span class="i0">And so they labour, deeming Holy Writ<br></span> +<span class="i0">Disgraced by aught that seems content to sit<br></span> +<span class="i0">Beneath the roof of settled modesty."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Wordsworth.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 147]</span> +<a name="image161" id="image161"></a> +<img src="images/illus161.jpg" width="351" height="552" alt="Amberley Church, in ruin, and restored" title=""> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>A LOOSE STONE IN THE BUILDING</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 149]</span> + +<h2>A DIGRESSION</h2> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">S</span>ince the last conversation which we recorded between +the Vicar and Mr. Dole, the character of the latter had +become much softened. On various occasions they had been +brought into each other's company, and the consequence was +that each had begun to think more favourably of the other, +and to find some unsuspected good qualities which promised +well to establish between them that cordial good feeling and +mutual respect which ought always to exist between a Pastor +and each member of his flock.</p> + +<p>The following close of a long conversation might explain +the loss of esteem and influence which many a parish priest, +besides the Vicar of St. Catherine's, has had to deplore:—</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Ambrose, had we known each other more, we +should have understood each other better; my lips, at least, +would have been saved the guilt of many hard words; +perhaps, too, sir, you would have thought of me a little more +charitably."</p> + +<p>"There may be truth in that, Mr. Dole," said the Vicar; +"but then you must own that you have always shown such +sternness and severity to wards me as to forbid any friendly +approach on my part. I have, indeed, put it down, in a great +measure, to that harsh judgment of the conduct and opinions +of others which I considered your form of dissent tended to +foster—but this has not relieved me of my difficulty."</p> + +<p>"I suppose I must confess that those who hold very strictly +to the doctrines in which I have been brought up, have generally +a severe and sour bearing to wards others who do not<span class="pagenum">[Pg 150]</span> +believe as they do, and, indeed, very often to wards members +of their own body also. Then, you see, sir, at their +prayer meetings, and their Sabbath services, they get much +more excited and animated than people do at church, and so, +perhaps, it's natural for them to be a little more subdued and +less lively when they are out of 'meeting.'"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's natural; and no doubt what you say accounts +for some differences in the opinions we form of each other's +characters. At 'meeting' I am aware persons are commonly +wrought up, by exciting appeals, loud words, and wild gestures, +to a state of <i>high pressure</i>, of which we at church know little; +and so they consider the calm, dignified solemnity of our +services as cold and lifeless. Out of 'meeting' a reaction +takes place, and they become comparatively depressed and +undemonstrative, and we consider them morose and ill-tempered; +<i>we</i> have no such reaction to undergo, and to us the +world seems brighter than to them, and so they think us +frivolous and worldly. But for my part, Mr. Dole, I can't +possibly see what is the use of a man's speaking ten times +louder than is necessary in order to make himself heard, just +that he may produce a fever-heat in the pulses of his congregation. +If continued for any length of time, it leads to something +very like temporary madness; if not, it is likely to subside +into a dull, sullen apathy. Moreover, I have yet to learn +that it is wrong, provided we do not abuse them, to enjoy +the good things God gives us, with a <i>cheerful countenance</i>—aye, +and with a merry heart, too.</p> + +<p>"On that point I have for some time been inclining to your +opinion, sir; though, I fear, you will think I have not given +much outward proof of it. But, nevertheless, you have in this +matter as yet partly mistaken me—indeed we have partly +mistaken each other. Perhaps my religion may, in some +degree, account for my seeming gloominess and indifference; +but these have arisen quite as much from home sorrows and +disappointments, and the coldness and cruelty I have experienced +from others. I will not, however, trouble you with +these matters now, more than to say, that if you could have +overlooked the ungracious words I may sometimes have said +to and of you, and have looked in upon me, and for my evil<span class="pagenum">[Pg 151]</span> +have returned good, by speaking some kind and friendly words +to me, you would have done much to brighten a life that has +known but little sunshine; for I have longed more than I can +tell you for a friend to whom I could fearlessly tell the +sorrows of my heart. I know I have been to blame, for I +always used to think you too <i>proud</i> to take much interest in +my cares and troubles; may be, sir—I am sure you will +forgive my plain speaking—may be we have been both a little +to blame.</p> + +<p>"Now, Mr. Ambrose," continued his parishioner, in a far +more cheerful voice than was usual with him, "you know that +since your friendly conversation with me that day in the +church, I have followed the advice you then gave me, and +have never failed to be one of your congregation at least once +on the Sunday. I trust I have profited by what you have +taught me: will you not be offended if I for a moment turn +the tables, and preach a few words to you? I don't mean to +<i>you</i> yourself personally, sir, but I mean to you as one of the +ministers of the Church."</p> + +<p>"I am sure you will not say any thing that will give me +just cause for offence, my friend, and so I promise not to be +offended."</p> + +<p>"Well then, sir, you know I have always lived amongst +Dissenters, so I know pretty well who and what they are. You +will agree with me, that there are many excellent people +among them, and there are some learned people among them; +but generally they have but little learning. Very often their +attention has been almost solely directed to <i>a single point of +doctrine</i> which itself forms the ground of their dissent from the +Church—just as with me; though I do not think the Church +is quite right on some other matters, yet I should not separate +from it could I be persuaded that the Church was right about +<i>Baptism</i>. That has always been <i>my one</i> great stumbling-block. +But I think, sir, speaking with all respect for yourself, that +there is <i>one great cause</i> in the Church ministers themselves +which has kept the Dissenters from coming back to the +Church. I know that this has more to do with the <i>past</i> than +the <i>present</i>; I know too that it could not of itself justify any +one in separating from the Church. But, sir, look at the class of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 152]</span> +people Dissenters are of, in this country; their whole strength +lies in the middle and the small-trade class. There are among +them comparatively very few rich and educated, very few poor. +You will say the love of the power and position which those +people obtain for themselves in the meeting-house, but which +they could not possess, in the same way, in the Church, +naturally draws them to the Dissenters. That is no doubt +partly true; giving them also credit—as I am sure you do, +sir—for higher motives. But I see another reason; and that +is, the wide difference between the Church ministers and the +people."</p> + +<p>"I see what you mean," said the Vicar: "the difference in +their social position. I admit that the social position of the +dissenting preacher is more on a level with that class of which, +as you say, Dissenters are chiefly composed than is that of the +Clergy. But then, Mr. Dole, the Church does not only retain +its hold on the upper and the educated classes, but +also on the poor (of course I speak generally; for there are, +alas! a large number of these which are beyond the reach of +any religious ministrations whatever)."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes, sir, that's the very point. I think in times past +the Church ministers have stood too much on their social and +worldly dignity: they have made too much of the <i>man</i>, and +too little of the <i>office</i>. It's different now almost every where. +But you see, sir, this just separated them from the tradespeople, +but it didn't separate them from the poor. They +didn't feel their pride wounded when they took the horny +hand of the labourer; but it was a greater trial of humility to +shake hands with the tradesman over the counter, and to go +and sit down in the parlour behind the shop, in the same +friendly way in which they visited the poor cottagers. Then, +you know, sir, there were many other ways in which this class +was neglected: <i>we</i> think it was lest too great attention should +lead to too great familiarity. The wealth and education of +a tradesman perhaps sometimes made his social position +border too closely on that of the Church minister, and +perhaps the minister felt it his duty carefully to guard the +narrow barrier; but, oh, dear me, sir, what is all that compared +with the work God has given him to do! I don't think that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 153]</span> +one who has the salvation of his people at heart will stop to +consider whether a friendly, faithful pastoral visit may or may +not result in a more familiar nod from his parishioners for the +future. Do you know, sir, I think this is one of the loose +stones in your spiritual House."</p> + +<p>"I agree with much that you have said, as regards <i>past +years</i>: but you must not put all down to <i>pride</i>; you must +make more allowances for men's peculiar habits, and circumstances, +and manners. Only just now you excused a kindred +fault in yourself on the ground of private cares and anxieties. +However, our views on this matter are not far apart. I consider, +with you, that a clergyman's <i>office</i> overrides all social +distinctions; and that he should be equally at home at the +squire's mansion, the tradesman's parlour, and the meanest +cottage in his parish; none should be too high for his familiarity, +none too low for his friendship: as Chaucer says, +'the beggar is his brother.' His <i>social</i> position is certainly as +nothing compared with his <i>official</i>, and should always be made +subservient to it. I cannot understand how any clergyman, +who rightly estimates the high dignity of his sacred office +as a priest, can take a different view from this. However—God +be praised!—times are altered in this respect: the +Clergy have thrown away almost every where that reserve +which no doubt lost to the Church many of the class which +the Dissenters have gained. And we see now the good +results; for in thousands of parishes the sons and daughters +of these very people are working hand-in-hand with their +Pastor, and are among the most zealous and faithful children +of the Church, bringing again within the walls of her Temples +multitudes of those who have been fellow-wanderers with +themselves, and so helping to repair, one by one, the many +breaches which have, alas! been made in the House of the +Lord."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 155]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a><b>CHAPTER XV</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE FONT</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid +them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xviii. 16.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 156]</span> +<span class="i0">"There is a Font within whose burnish'd face<br></span> +<span class="i0">The o'erarching pile itself reflected sleeps,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Columns, arch, roof, and all the hallow'd place,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Beauteously mirror'd in its marble deeps;<br></span> +<span class="i0">And holy Church within her vigil keeps:<br></span> +<span class="i0">Thus round our Font on storied walls arise<br></span> +<span class="i0">Scenes that encompass Sion's holy steeps,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Rivers of God and sweet societies,<br></span> +<span class="i0">The mountain of our rest, and Kingdom of the skies."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>The Baptistery.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 157]</span> +<a name="image171" id="image171"></a> +<img src="images/illus171.jpg" width="300" height="575" alt="Ancient Font in West Rounton Church" title=""> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE FONT</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 159]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">A</span> few weeks after the interview mentioned in the last +chapter, the Vicar preached three sermons from the +same text, St. John iii. 5: "Except a man be born of water +and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." +The first sermon was on the <i>necessity of Baptism</i>; the second, +on <i>its benefits</i>; and the third, on <i>its mode of administration</i>, +specially in the case of infants. Mr. Ambrose could not help +noticing that Mr. Dole was on each occasion deeply affected, +for he saw tears on his face, which evidently manifested deep +emotion within. He was, therefore, hardly surprised, when, +after his third sermon, a knock at the vestry-door announced a +visit from his parishioner.</p> + +<p>"I have listened very attentively to your last three sermons, +Mr. Ambrose," said he, "and the subjects of them have also, +as you know, for a long time past been seriously and prayerfully +considered by me; I am now come to ask you to receive +me into the Church by Baptism."</p> + +<p>"Have you never yet been baptized, my friend?" inquired +the Vicar, taking his hand in a kind and friendly way.</p> + +<p>"No, I have not; when I was an infant, my parents objected +to my being baptized, and since I became a man, I must +confess with shame, that I have never had the <i>courage</i> to go +through the service at our <i>meeting</i>. That service, you know, +sir, is such as to deter far more courageous men—and specially +women—than I am, and I have always, too, had my doubts +about its propriety."</p> + +<p>"I am not surprised at that. I once, when a boy, attended +a baptism at one of your <i>meetings</i>, and I shall never forget it; +for a more unseemly spectacle I never witnessed. There were<span class="pagenum">[Pg 160]</span> +several young men and women immersed by the preacher, in a +large tank of water, in the middle of the meeting-house. Each +was clothed in a flannel garment fitting almost closely to the +body, and the appearance of the first of them was the signal for +a general rush to the best places for seeing; men and boys +climbed noisily over the pews, and some took their places on +the backs of the seats, so as to get a good view; and the whole +scene was most disorderly and irreverent.</p> + +<p>"I have explained to you that our own Church also admits +of baptism by <i>immersion</i><a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a>, but it does not <i>require</i> it, nor even +recommend it. Nevertheless occasionally persons desire it; +and there are a few churches, chiefly in Wales, where a +large tank of water, as well as a smaller font, is provided +for such special cases. But this mode of baptizing is not +encouraged by the Church, for these among other reasons:—It +is <i>not necessary</i>—for 1, the word <i>Baptism</i>, in the original, +does not necessarily mean entire immersion; 2, in the absence +of proof to the contrary, we may fairly conclude, from the +peculiar circumstances<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> of the cases, that many of whose +baptism we read in the New Testament were not so immersed; +3, the Church from the earliest period has not considered +immersion as necessary to the validity of Baptism. It is also +<i>inconvenient</i>—for 1, in some cases it would be most difficult to +obtain sufficient water for the purpose; 2, in many cases there +would be much risk and danger attending its practice; 3, in all +cases there would be difficulty in securing that solemnity, propriety, +and order so desirable in the administration of this holy +sacrament. But the Baptism of adults, even according to the +Church's ordinary rules, is no small test of courage, as well as +sincerity. You are aware, no doubt, that your own Baptism +and reception into the Church must be <i>in the face of the congregation</i>. +The law of the Church is very plain on this point; it +distinctly forbids Baptism to be administered <i>privately</i>, either +at home or in the Church, 'unless upon a great and reasonable<span class="pagenum">[Pg 161]</span> +cause;' and it is much to be regretted that this rule has +ever been departed from."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I have well considered that point."</p> + +<p>The Vicar remained long that afternoon in the vestry in +serious conversation and earnest prayer with his parishioner. +He again went over the subject of the last three sermons; +showing, 1st, how the text could refer to nothing else than +holy Baptism, and that, if it did refer to it, then no doubt, where +it can be had, Baptism must be necessary for us, in order that +we may "enter into the kingdom of God;" 2ndly, that the +<i>promise</i> is as sure as the <i>warning</i>; and, 3rdly, that the terms +of the text are <i>unexceptional</i>, that they refer to <i>all mankind</i> +without any exception whatever, men, women, and children. +In speaking of these different subjects, of course he had to meet +the various objections which Dissenters are used to adduce; +but on all these points it was not very difficult to satisfy +the mind of one who had already freed himself from the +trammels of prejudice, and was earnestly seeking for the <i>truth</i>.</p> + +<p>On the following Sunday afternoon therefore, after the second +lesson, Mr. Dole presented himself, with his chosen witnesses, +at the Font of St. Catherine's. The service was a very solemn +one, and all the congregation evidently took the greatest +interest in it. Mr. Dole made the responses in a firm manly +voice, its very tone seemed to say, "This is the result of my +deep and honest conviction; I have been wrong, and I am +not ashamed to say so before all those who are here present, +from whom I have so long been separated, but who are henceforth +my brethren in Christ." And then for the first time, he +quietly and calmly took his place on a bench at the west end +of the building—a sincere member of the Christian Church.</p> + +<p>It was natural that the Squire and Vicar should have some +conversation after service on an event of so much importance +in the village as was this. They both foretold, and rightly, +the downfall of the little village "Bethel" as soon as its chief +supporter had left it.</p> + +<p>Its former attendants came back to the Church one by one, +till at length the owner of the building, finding no prospect of +receiving his rent, closed the "Meeting," and appropriated it +to another purpose.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 162]</span></p> + +<p>The Vicar and Squire were standing near the Font, and the +conversation took its rise from the object before them.</p> + +<p>"How often, Mr. Vicar, we find these old Norman Fonts +preserved, when there is hardly another bit of masonry remaining +in the church of the same date."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and it is remarkable it should be so, considering the +exposed part of the church in which they are placed, and the +perishable stone of which they are not unfrequently composed; +besides which, the carvings upon them are often of so mysterious +and grotesque a character as naturally to excite the +wrath of the Puritan fanatics who so relentlessly destroyed the +beauty of our Houses of God, and 'brake down all the carved +work thereof with axes and hammers.'</p> + +<p>"It is very interesting to watch the progress of architectural +changes as delineated on Fonts. Each period of ecclesiastical +architecture, as well in its general features as in its details, is +abundantly illustrated by the carvings and mouldings to be +found on Fonts. The early Fonts were with few exceptions +made of stone. Marble was seldom used till in comparatively +recent times. Some of the early Fonts had a solid leaden bowl, +placed on a stone base<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a>; I have never seen but one ancient +wooden Font<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a>; that was placed on a stone base of the Norman +period, but was itself no doubt much later. The sculpture on +very ancient Fonts, as well as other church carving of the +time, sometimes borrowed its symbolism from the heathen +mythology which preceded it<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a>."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 163]</span></p> + +<p>Constance Acres, who had been hitherto a quiet listener, +here asked Mr. Ambrose why the Font was always placed near +the door of the church.</p> + +<p>"It's a natural inquiry, my dear, for one of your age," said +the Vicar, "but the reason is evident. Its position there, at +the entrance of the material fabric, fitly represents <i>Baptism</i> as +the outward form of admission into the Christian Church. The +Font, too, thus placed, should ever remind us, as we enter the +church, of the vows and promises made in our name when first +we were brought in our helpless infancy to be presented to God, +and to be made members of Christ through the grace of our +second birth. If people would only accustom themselves to +associate such thoughts with the baptismal Font, then just a +glance at it as they come into the church would be enough to +solemnize their minds, and help to fit them for the sacred +services in which they are about to take a part. It was once +the custom, Constance, to place what were called <i>stoups</i>, at the +entrances to our churches, and there are still remains of them +at the doors of many old churches. These were small basins, +made of stone, for the purpose of holding water, which—like +the water in the Font—was consecrated by the priest. When +persons came into the church, they dipped a finger in the +basin, and crossed their forehead with the water, just as the +priest now crosses the brow of the person who has been baptized. +The <i>forehead</i>, you know, is always regarded as the seat +of <i>shame</i> or <i>courage</i><a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a>; and so the person, when baptized, is +signed with 'the sign of the <i>Cross</i>, in token that hereafter he +shall <i>not be ashamed</i> to confess the faith of <i>Christ crucified</i>.' +The old custom of frequent crossing with holy water has now +for a long time been discontinued by us, the practice was +regarded by many as superstitious, nor does there appear to be +authority for it in the Primitive Church. The same motive +which prompted the use of the <i>stoup</i>, however, still induces +some persons to use the sign of the Cross on entering a church: +I do not myself do so; not that I see any harm in the practice +in itself, as it is intended to remind persons of the Sacred +Presence to which they are about to enter, and to drive away +worldly thoughts by this memento of the crucifixion of their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 164]</span> +Lord; but I think it is better, in my own case, as some would +be offended by it, to try to accomplish this right object by other +means."</p> + +<p>"People's minds have very much changed in late years +respecting the use of the Cross," said Mr. Acres. "A few +years ago not only was the sign of the Cross in baptism considered +superstitious, but it was considered even wrong to use it +in church architecture, or as an ornament within the church, +or as a part of a memorial in the churchyard; there are few +now, I suppose, who regard such use of the sacred symbol as +superstitious. I was in a bookseller's shop the other day when +a 'Baptist' preacher came in to purchase a Prayer Book to +present to a friend; the bookseller said to him, 'Of course +that will not suit you, sir, as it has a Cross upon it.' 'I like the +book very much,' was his reply; 'and as for the Cross, why +the Puritans may object to that if they like, I don't.' But +I am of opinion that people are going a little in the opposite +extreme, and, at least as a personal <i>ornament</i>, the Cross is +become too common."</p> + +<p>"Why <i>do</i> you fall into the popular error, my good friend," +said the Vicar, reprovingly, "of calling these Anabaptist +preachers, <i>Baptists</i>? Surely they ought to be called any thing +rather than <i>Baptists</i>, for they make more light of Baptism than +any other people who can properly be said to believe in Baptism +at all. Do let us call things by their proper names;—why, to +call them <i>Baptists</i>, is almost as bad as to call Roman Catholics, +<i>Catholics</i>, and so to ignore our own claim to be members of the +Christian Church, because we allow them a name which would +imply that <i>they</i> are the <i>only</i> Church in the world. I need not +tell you that the word ANA<i>baptist</i><a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> exactly expresses what they +are, namely, they who <i>baptize a second time</i> those who have +already been baptized in infancy. The term 'Baptist' is far +more applicable to Church people than to them."</p> + +<p>"I see, I deserve your rebuke: mine is a mistake too often +made. By-the-bye, Mr. Vicar, I was very pleased to hear your +reply to Mr. Dole, when he inquired what was the <i>fee</i> to be +paid for his baptism. I heard you tell him that the sacraments +of the Church were always <i>free</i>."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 165]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly I did; and I confess I cannot understand +how any one can dare, in these days, to demand a fee for +Baptism; the claim is as <i>illegal</i> as it is <i>unchristian</i>, and I +believe goes far to make the poor take a low view of this holy +rite. I wish, too, I could make the poor understand that +<i>Baptism</i> has nothing to do with <i>Registration</i>; many of the +most ignorant of them really regard them as the same thing. +Some of them, too, will persist in thinking that to be <i>privately +baptized</i>, is to be '<i>half baptized</i>.' Of course <i>they must be altogether +baptized, or not baptized at all</i>; but they do not readily +see that the <i>baptism</i> is complete, though the <i>reception into the +Church</i> is not perfected till the service is concluded in the face +of the congregation."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 167]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><b>CHAPTER XVI</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE PULPIT</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"He commanded us to preach unto the people."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Acts</span> x. 42</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 168]</span> +<span class="i0">"The pulpit, therefore (and I name it, fill'd<br></span> +<span class="i0">With solemn awe, that bids me well beware<br></span> +<span class="i0">With what intent I touch that Holy thing),<br></span> +<span class="i0">I say the pulpit (in sober awe<br></span> +<span class="i0">Of its legitimate peculiar powers)<br></span> +<span class="i0">Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand,<br></span> +<span class="i0">The most important and effectual guard,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Support and ornament of virtue's cause.<br></span> +<span class="i0">There stands the messenger of truth: there stands<br></span> +<span class="i0">The legate of the skies! His theme divine,<br></span> +<span class="i0">His office sacred, his credentials clear.<br></span> +<span class="i0">By him the violated law speaks out<br></span> +<span class="i0">Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet<br></span> +<span class="i0">As angels are, the Gospel whispers peace."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Cowper.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 169]</span> +<a name="image183" id="image183"></a> +<img src="images/illus183.jpg" width="351" height="481" alt="Stone Pulpit in Dartmouth Church" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE PULPIT</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 171]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"I</span> suppose we must not expect you to conform to all +our usages at first, Mr. Dole," said Mr. Acres, as they +walked out of the churchyard one Sunday, after the Afternoon +Service; "but no doubt you will soon see the fitness of our +several forms and ceremonies, and then you will do as we do. +Of course these things are—compared with others—of no great +importance; but still it is better, even in small matters, to +avoid differences in our mode of worship."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is so, sir; but you must give me time, and I +shall be glad if you will tell me what you have specially noticed +in my manner different from others? I don't wish to seem +particular."</p> + +<p>"Well, to be candid then, Mr. Dole, it seems strange to us to +see a man when he comes into church <i>stand up</i> and say his +prayers in his <i>hat</i>, instead of reverently <i>kneeling down</i>."</p> + +<p>"I never thought of that before, but I dare say it does; but +then you know, sir, that is our way at the <i>meeting</i>. I see, however, +that it is much more proper in God's house to obey +the precept of His Holy Word, and 'fall low on our knees +before His footstool.'"</p> + +<p>"Then for the same reason you will, I am sure, see that, +instead of <i>sitting</i> during the other prayers, as I notice you do, +it is proper to <i>kneel</i> at those times too. You will find that all +in our church, from the oldest to the youngest, except poor Old +Reynolds and Tom Barham (who are too infirm to kneel), do +so. Then again, when the <i>Creed</i> is said, I see you do sometimes +stand up, but not always; and I notice you don't turn to +the <i>East</i>, as all the rest of the congregation do."</p> + +<p>"No, I confess I don't do that. I like the idea of repeating +our Confession of Faith whenever we meet at church: I suppose<span class="pagenum">[Pg 172]</span> +the want of this practice is one reason why the different leading +sects of Dissenters are constantly being broken up into fresh +divisions. Yes, there is certainly something very supporting to +a Christian in so declaring with the Church every where, his +belief in the great doctrines of their common Faith; but the +fact is, I have some scruples about turning to the East at that +time. Even old Mrs. Tubbs, who, you know, is a Church-woman, +says she thinks it is superstitious."</p> + +<p>"All I can say, then, is, that Mrs. Tubbs doesn't know the +meaning of the word she uses; and in this she is like a great +many more people who think themselves very wise about these +matters. Now, my good friend, when you next come to church, +stand up with the rest, and turn to the East as the others do, +and first say to yourself some such words as these:—'We all +<i>stand</i>, to signify that we are <i>not ashamed</i> of our Belief, and +that, if need be, we will manfully defend it. We all <i>turn in +one direction</i>, to signify that we all hold <i>one and the same faith</i>. +We all turn to the <i>East</i>, because there in the east of our +churches every thing reminds us of the presence of Him in +whom we profess our belief; because there, in remembrance +of Him, we celebrate the highest and most sacred mysteries of +our Faith; and because the East specially reminds us of the +holy life, the Divine teaching, the miracles, the suffering, the +death of our Blessed Lord—"the <i>Sun</i> of Righteousness," "the +<i>Day-spring</i> from on high"—<i>in the East</i><a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a>.' Do this, Mr. Dole, +and you will never again be disposed to regard this custom as +superstitious. Why, some people even think it is superstitious +to bend the head reverently at the name of Jesus, when it is +mentioned in the Creeds and the other parts of the Service."</p> + +<p>"I don't think so, though once I did. Since I have considered +more about it, it has seemed to me that some outward +show of reverence at the mention of the Sacred Name is quite +Scriptural<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a>. But as I am yet only a learner about these outward +forms, will you kindly tell me, sir, whether there is any +rule of the Church about this custom?"<span class="pagenum">[Pg 173]</span></p> + +<p>"The Vicar will be able to answer that better than I can."</p> + +<p>"I could not help overhearing our friend's question," said +Mr. Ambrose, "as I was close behind you, and I will answer it +at once. The rule of our Church is very plain on this point; +it is this: 'All manner of persons present shall reverently kneel +upon their knees, when the general Confession, Litany, and +other prayers are read; and shall stand up at the saying of the +Belief, according to the rules in that behalf prescribed in the +Book of Common Prayer; and likewise, when in time of +Divine Service the Lord Jesus shall be mentioned, due and +lowly reverence shall be done by all persons present, as it +hath been accustomed: testifying, by these outward ceremonies +and gestures, their inward humility, Christian resolution, and +due acknowledgment that the Lord Jesus Christ, the true +eternal Son of God, is the only Saviour of the world<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a>.'"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Mr. Ambrose, nothing could be plainer, or +more reasonable than that direction; but, you see, I have for so +many years <i>sat under</i> Mr. Scole, who never taught us any thing +of this sort, that you will forgive me if I seem a little more +ignorant than those who have been all the time <i>sitting under</i> you."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by 'sitting under,' my friend?" said +the Vicar, very innocently.</p> + +<p>"I mean <i>hearing you preach</i>," was Mr. Dole's reply. "It's a +curious expression, now I come to think about it."</p> + +<p>"It certainly is so, and the meaning of it is not very clear. +But in our Church we don't talk about <i>sitting under</i>, or <i>hearing</i> +this or that preacher. We simply say we attend this or that +church, as the case may be. And the reason is, that—although +very important in its proper place—we consider preaching of +little moment (and the preacher of far less), when compared +with the other objects of Christian worship,—<i>Prayer</i> and +<i>Praise</i>. We look upon God's House as pre-eminently 'a +House of Prayer.'"</p> + +<p>"Well, I do think we used to make too much of the sermon +at the meeting; and I remember all our conversation afterwards +was about the sermon or the preacher. One Sunday +we had a young gent. from London, Mr. Sweetly, to preach, +and our people never ceased to talk about him. I believe,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 174]</span> +however, none of them recollected a word he said; but they +could remember well enough 'his lovely voice,' and 'how nice +he looked in his beautiful black silk gown' (you know, sir, our +people always preach in black gowns), 'and those charming +lavender gloves! and then the sweetest embroidered white lawn +pocket-handkerchief imaginable!' It had just been presented +to him, he told me, by a young lady—Miss Angelina Gushing—who +sat under him at his London meeting-house. I never +was a preacher-worshipper myself, sir."</p> + +<p>"Save me from the man with the <i>lavender gloves and the +white embroidered pocket-handkerchief</i>, I say," said Mr. Acres. +"If there is one thing in nature I shrink from more than +another, it is a <i>fop</i>, and a <i>fop</i> in the pulpit is beyond endurance."</p> + +<p>"A most offensive person, indeed," said the Vicar, "and one +that brings great discredit upon the ministry; but it can be no +matter of surprise that men sometimes a little over-estimate +themselves in some of our fashionable towns, where the people +(specially the ladies) flock to <i>hear</i> 'dear' Mr. Somebody, and +so abundantly supply him with those articles of personal furniture +which are usually the reward of a popular preacher. It is +not so very long ago that in our own church every thing was +made to give way to the sermon. You remember, Mr. Acres, +when many of the people in St. Catherine's used to sit and +sleep through the prayers<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a>, and just wake up for the sermon. +Then the pulpit was every thing, and little else could be seen +by the people; the galleries were built so that the people might +sit and see the preacher, and the pews were likewise built up +only with a view to sitting comfortable during the sermon. It +is all different now, I am thankful to say, and the pulpit takes +once more its old and appropriate position. But we must +take care not to esteem too lightly the office of the preacher, +in our contempt for one who preaches merely to <i>please the +people</i>. To 'preach the Word' is one of the solemn duties laid +upon us at our ordination; and woe be to us if we neglect to do +so earnestly and faithfully!"</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 175]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><b>CHAPTER XVII</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE PULPIT</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Because the preacher was wise, he still taught the +people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought +out, and set in order many proverbs."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Eccles.</span> xii. 9.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 176]</span> +<span class="i0">"Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power,<br></span> +<span class="i0">By doctrines fashion'd to the varying hour;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize,<br></span> +<span class="i0">More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<hr style="width: 45%;"> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">At church, with meek and unaffected grace,<br></span> +<span class="i0">His looks adorn'd the venerable place;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And fools, who came to scoff, remain'd to pray."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noterlong"><span class="smcap">Goldsmith's</span> <i>Country Parson</i>.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Resort to sermons, but to prayers most:<br></span> +<span class="i0">Praying's the end of preaching."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">George Herbert.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 177]</span> +<a name="image191" id="image191"></a> +<img src="images/illus191.jpg" width="351" height="558" alt="Church of St. Mary, Henley-on-Thames" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE PULPIT</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 179]</span> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 249px;"> +<a name="image193" id="image193"></a> +<img src="images/illus193.jpg" width="249" height="409" alt="Stone Pulpit in North Kilworth Church" title=""> +</div> + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"I</span>t's curious to +note," continued +the Vicar, "how +the Pulpit and the +Gallery have kept +company in rising +higher and higher. +At first the pulpit +was placed at a moderate +height above +the congregation, and +then the church improvers +(?) were +usually contented +with erecting a small +low gallery at the +west end of the +church<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a>. It is true, +that was bad enough; +for in order to construct +it, it was +nearly always thought +necessary to fill in +the tower arch and +to hide the western window—often the most beautiful features +in the church; and then the organ was taken up into +this gallery, and the singers followed it; and nothing, you +know, could be more inconvenient than that those who help<span class="pagenum">[Pg 180]</span> +to <i>lead</i> the services of the Church should be <i>behind</i> those they +profess to lead. But when people had once tasted the luxury +of sitting in a church gallery, the demand for it rapidly increased, +and my Lady Pride, who had very comfortable +crimson-cushioned seats in her box at the theatre, could not +be content without an equally comfortable and elegant <i>box</i> +in the gallery at her church, where she could see all the people +quite as well as in her box at the theatre, and had such a good +view of the pulpit and its occupant, that, with a good opera-glass, +she could even read the manuscript from which the +clergyman was preaching. As the taste spread, of course +galleries multiplied, and not only extended in a lateral direction +over all available parts of the church, but sometimes +mounted up one above another (as witness many of our +London churches) till they almost touched the very roof. +Indeed, to build a new gallery was one of the most popular +things a local magnate could do; and even Members of +Parliament, who desired to make sure of their next election, +could hardly adopt better means for recommending themselves +to their constituents than by disfiguring their church +with one of these hideous structures, and recording the same +on some conspicuous part of the church<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a>. But worse still; +these galleries were sometimes even still more nearly connected +with the political parties of the day. I know one church<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a>—and +that is not the only instance—in which are galleries, +having complete opera-boxes, furnished with luxurious chairs, +stoves, &c., and every box is a two-pound freehold, and the +boxes are, from time to time, advertised for sale, with the +inviting recommendation that each one <i>gives a vote for the +county</i>. One great piece of presumptuous vanity connected +with these galleries, is the numberless instances in which the +names of churchwardens, that otherwise would have been +unknown to fame, have been emblazoned upon them."</p> + +<p>"You remember, no doubt," said Mr. Acres, "the inscription, +in large gilt letters, that covered the front of our old +gallery—'This gallery was erected A.D. 1716, Thomas Grubb +and Matthew Stokes, Churchwardens; enlarged, and newly +painted and ornamented, A.D. 1760, Peter Jenks and Samuel<span class="pagenum">[Pg 181]</span> +Styles, Churchwardens.' I believe I have read that inscription +thousands of times, and those names used even to haunt +me in my dreams. Had those churchwardens been four of +the greatest saints in the calendar, it would have been gross +impiety to emblazon their names so conspicuously as thus to +force them upon one's notice during the whole service. If, +however, tradition does not speak falsely of them, those men +were by no means too correct either in their private life or in +their parish accounts. But let them be never so good, people +who go to church for Christian worship, don't wish to have the +names and exploits of these worthy or unworthy men staring +them in the face every moment they are there. But I beg +your pardon, Mr. Vicar, I interrupted you when you were +speaking of the pulpit."</p> + +<p>"Well, you know, when the gallery had reached the ceiling, +it could go no higher; but then its upper tenants could no +longer see the preacher. So the pulpit rose too, and, to enable +all to see it, sometimes took its place just in front of the altar, +so as completely to hide that from most of the congregation; nay, +I have seen it even over the altar itself<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a>. Then the prayer-desk +came climbing up after the pulpit; and then the clerk's +desk came creeping up below them, till that, too, became +one of the most conspicuous and important objects of the +church. Thus the three together grew into that clumsy, +unsightly mass which has been not inaptly called the <i>Three +Decker</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, I shall never forget poor old Mowforth's perplexity," +said Mr. Acres, "when he looked about for his peculiar box in +our restored church. First he looked doubtingly at your prayer-desk; +then he examined the lectern from which you read the +lessons; then he looked with some faint hope at the pulpit; at +last he came to me, and said, 'Please, sir, which of these is to +be my place?' and his look of dismay was indescribable when +I told him that, as you intended that henceforth the choir +should lead the responses, he would be absorbed in the congregation, +and would in future be able to take his place with +the rest of his family. But the man is a sensible fellow, and +he confessed to me the other day that he considers the new<span class="pagenum">[Pg 182]</span> +arrangement a great improvement, and wonders that the people +could have so long endured the duet service in which only the +voices of the parson and himself could be heard. But we have +again wandered a little from our subject. Let us go back to +the pulpit; it must have a history of its own, like every other +part of the church. Will you kindly enlighten me and our +friend here on the subject? for it must be one of much interest +to us both."</p> + +<p>"Well—to begin at the beginning—I suppose we must look +for the origin of our pulpits in the 'brazen scaffold' which +Solomon set 'in the midst of the Temple<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a>,' and the 'pulpit of +wood<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a>' from which Ezra read the Book of the Law.</p> + +<p>"There are in this country many very beautiful examples of +ancient pulpits; these are, with but very few exceptions, constructed +of <i>stone</i>, and very generally of the same date as the +church itself. Sometimes they were erected outside the +church<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a>, but usually in the place where we are still accustomed +to see them. Sometimes stone pulpits were quite separate +buildings, erected in some much frequented place, usually near +a cathedral or other church<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a>. 'In the ancient rites of Durham +there is mention of a "fine <i>iron</i> pulpit, with iron rails to support +the monks in going up, of whom one did preach every +holiday and Sunday at one o'clock in the afternoon." This +was situated in the Galilee, or western division of the church, +which was open to the public even when the entrance to the +rest of the church was interdicted<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a>.' Although the most beautiful +pulpits, both ancient and modern, are of stone—many of +them being richly carved and inlaid with costly marbles—yet<span class="pagenum">[Pg 183]</span> +the greater number of the more modern pulpits are made of +wood<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a>. By an injunction of Queen Elizabeth in 1559, pulpits +were ordered to be erected in all churches<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a>, and by a canon +of 1663 it was ordered that pulpits should be placed in all +the churches of the country not already provided with them. +The pulpits then erected were in almost every case made of +wood, and their pattern has since then been generally, though +by no means universally, followed.</p> + +<p>"A curious appendage to the pulpit sometimes found is +the horologium, or hour-glass. Whether this was placed there +for the information of the congregation as to the progress +of the hour, or to teach them its own solemn moral, or as a +guide to the preacher respecting the length of his discourse<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a>, I +cannot say. Another adjunct to the pulpit is the sounding-board, +or, as it should rather be called, the <i>lid</i> or <i>cover</i> of the pulpit; +and a thing more useless, and usually more ugly, one cannot +conceive<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a>. It certainly always seems to me rather to impede +the sound of my voice than to assist it; and then it has, to +say the least, a most uncomfortable appearance; and though I +never heard of the accident really happening, yet it always +appears to me to be on the point of falling and crushing the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 184]</span> +poor preacher below it. It is not, however, difficult to trace +the origin of these covers to the pulpit; they were really +necessary where the pulpits were <i>separate buildings</i>—as at St. +Paul's Cross—in order to protect the preacher when the +weather was inclement. At St. Paul's Cross, and at the Cross +Pulpit at Norwich, and probably elsewhere, not only the +preacher, but also the audience, were provided with such a +shelter<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a>."</p> + +<p>"Will you kindly tell us," said Mr. Dole, "why you discarded +the large handsome velvet cushion that was once on +your pulpit, and have, instead, adopted the embroidered piece +of velvet which now hangs in front of the pulpit?"</p> + +<p>"Well, as a matter of taste, I think you will agree with me +that the present beautiful frontal, with its richly-embroidered +cross, is an improvement upon the old cushion. But I discarded +the old big <i>pillow</i>—for such, indeed, it was—not only because +it was unsightly, but also because it was useless, for my head +is not so much more tender than that of other persons, that +I, any more than they, should require a pillow to rest it on +during my private devotions; and as I am not accustomed to +perform the part of a mountebank in the pulpit, or, as some +say, to use much <i>action</i> when preaching, I need no such protection +in order to preserve my limbs safe and sound. But, +besides this, there is a manifest objection to these huge +cushions; undoubtedly they tend to impede the sound of the +preacher's voice<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a>; so I was very glad to get rid of your handsome +cushion, and adopt our more convenient and more +beautiful pulpit frontal."</p> + +<p>"I often think," said Mr. Acres, "if the old pulpits could +speak, what a strange account they would give of the various +preachers that have occupied them. Take our own old stone +pulpit, for instance. In early times, of course, there were only +sermons at long intervals, perhaps often dependent upon the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 185]</span> +occasional visits of some old preaching friar. At length there +came the quaint old Homilies of the Church; then there came +an interruption to all true religion and order, and the old pulpit +poured forth the mad ravings of the fanatical Puritans who got +possession of it. Now and then came a noisy soldier to hold +forth, and there was—as our old registers show—the <i>Reverend</i> +Ebenezer Bradshaw, the Presbyterian, who left his snuff and +tobacco shop to enlighten our poor benighted people; next +came the <i>Reverend</i> Obadiah Brent, late of the 'Green Dragon,' +the Independent preacher; and then the <i>Reverend</i> Jabez +Zanchy, the baker of Starchcombe, the Anabaptist preacher<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a>; +then there was a century of long learned essays freely interspersed +with Greek and Latin, so that, if the prayers were +said in a language 'understanded of the people,' the sermon +certainly was not. Following upon this came what we may +call the <i>muscular</i> style of preaching—usually extempore—requiring +the pillows of which you have been speaking to save +the knuckles of the preacher from entire demolition. Thank +God, amid these many changes, there have always been some +good men to be found in our pulpits; but, for my part, I like +the quiet, sober, persuasive style, which—saving your presence, +Mr. Vicar—I am thankful to say, characterizes the sermons +at St. Catherine's. I think sermons cannot be too <i>practical</i>; +and, whilst they should be addressed both to the heart and the +intellect, they should most of all be designed to touch the +<i>heart</i>."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 187]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><b>CHAPTER XVIII</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE NAVE</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus +Christ, the Lord of Glory, with respect of persons."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">S. James</span> ii. 1.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 188]</span> +<span class="i0">"At length a generation more refined<br></span> +<span class="i0">Improved the simple plan....<br></span> +<span class="i0">And o'er the seat, with plenteous wadding stuff'd,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Induced a splendid cover, green and blue,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Yellow and red, of tapestry richly wrought,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And woven close, or needlework sublime."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Cowper.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 189]</span> +<a name="image203" id="image203"></a> +<img src="images/illus203.jpg" width="351" height="531" alt="St. Mary's Church, Sherborne" title=""> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE NAVE</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 191]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"A</span>h, Mr. Beeland, I'm so glad to see you!" said the +Vicar, as, on leaving the church, he met his neighbour +the newly-appointed Vicar of Droneworth. "I have been +much grieved to hear of the sad opposition you have had to +encounter in restoring your fine old church; but this was sure +to be the case in a parish like yours, which has been so long +neglected; indeed it must be so, more or less, in every parish, +so long as there are people who honour themselves much more +than they honour God; and such, I suppose, there will be till +the end of the world. You may be sure, my friend, the woe +of universal commendation<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> never yet fell upon any <i>church +restorer</i>."</p> + +<p>"Never, certainly. But what makes our position often so +difficult and so painful is the fact that, whilst we are fully +sensible of the rectitude of our own course, we cannot help, to +some extent, sympathizing in the feelings of those who blame us. +For instance, in almost every case of church restoration it is +necessary to disturb a large number of human bones, and yet +we can but sympathize in that feeling of respect for the +departed, which sometimes expresses itself in the most +strenuous opposition to any work involving this painful necessity. +Then, you see, there is the rooting up of long-cherished +associations. We have a case in point close at hand. There's +the grand old church of Rainsborough will be left in its +miserable condition so long as the present Vicar lives, and +for no other reason than this:—ten years since he lost a +favourite daughter, and she had always been accustomed to +sit in one particular corner of their large pew." Now the +Vicar fears (and no doubt justly) that should the church be +altered, the old pew with its fond associations would be swept<span class="pagenum">[Pg 192]</span> +away—and so the church will never be improved as long as he +lives<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a>. We must respect the old man's tender love for the +spot sacred to the memory of his dear child, yet we plainly see +it is all wrong that for the sake of the private feelings (however +praiseworthy) of any one person, God's house should remain in +a state of neglect, and the poor should be uncared for therein. +This, however, is an oft-told tale. But most of all, we have to +contend against <i>wounded pride</i> in its most cherished strong-hold—alas!—the +Church of God; and the enemy is all the +more fierce because it is prostrate.</p> + +<p>"My two great opponents, Sir John Adamley and Mr. Parvener, +are to meet me this evening, and I am come to ask you +and Mr. Acres to walk back with me to Droneworth, so that I +may have the benefit of your support. You see these two +gentlemen had pews in the nave of our church, lined, cushioned, +and carpeted in dazzling crimson; each pew was as large as a +good-sized room, and the two occupied nearly half the nave. +Mr. Parvener was generally at church once on a Sunday, and +then he sat not only in luxurious ease, but also in solitary +dignity. Sir John never came to church, as there was some +old feud respecting the right owner of his pew; but the door +was always locked, and a canvas cover was stretched over the +top. These precautions, however, failed to keep out an +occasional intruder, and at last the door was securely <i>nailed +up</i><a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a>. The worst of it was, that all this time there was not a +seat in the church which a poor man could occupy with any +chance of either seeing or hearing the ministering Priest. +Now people talk about <i>proper</i> distinctions in church between +the high and the low, and we sometimes hear much about old +ancestral pews. Believe me, it's all nonsense, my dear sir; the +distinction is <i>solely between riches and poverty</i>. If a man has +plenty of money, he may (or rather, till lately he might) secure<span class="pagenum">[Pg 193] </span> +the biggest pew in England; and if he has not money, though +he be entitled to quarter the royal arms on his escutcheon, he +will get no pew at all. Mr. Parvener is an exact instance of +this. But a few years since he was working for half-a-crown a +day. No sooner did he become wealthy than he obtained a +large pew at our church, whilst its former owner, whose fall had +been as complete and rapid as was the rise of his successor, +was driven to a remote corner of the church allotted to degraded +poverty."</p> + +<p>The walk to Droneworth was soon accomplished, but the +Rector with his two friends only reached the Parsonage a few +moments before the arrival of the two aggrieved parishioners. +It was evident from the first greeting that they had come in no +friendly spirit. But few words passed before Sir John came +direct to the object of the interview.</p> + +<p>"The purpose of our visit," said Sir John, "you are aware, +is to protest against the removal of our pews at church, and to +declare our determination to have them replaced if it is possible."</p> + +<p>"But, gentlemen, you are aware that we have provided good +accommodation for you in the restored church," replied the +Vicar.</p> + +<p>"Good accommodation, sir!" exclaimed Sir John. "Why, +you have given us nothing but low wooden benches to sit +upon; and, to add to the insult, sir, there is not the semblance +of a <i>door</i>; so that our devotions may at any time be interrupted +by the presence of an inferior. Why, sir, the very +labourers, who earn their half-crown a day, have seats in the +church just as good as ours!"</p> + +<p>The last sentence made poor Mr. Parvener writhe a little; +and that indeed was its real intention, for the two neighbours +had, in truth, little love for each other. The words, however, +accomplished another and a better purpose; they broke up at +once any thing like united action on the part of the opposition.</p> + +<p>"Let me ask you, gentlemen, a very simple question," said +the Vicar. "<i>Why should not</i> the labourer have as good a +place in God's house as yourselves?"</p> + +<p>"You might as well ask," said the Baronet, "why they +should not have as good houses as we have."</p> + +<p>"The cases are in no way similar. You live in better<span class="pagenum">[Pg 194]</span> +houses than the poor, simply because your worldly means +enable you to do so; but I have yet to be taught that in the +Church wealth is to be exalted and poverty degraded. No, +Sir John, be sure this distinction is out of place <i>there</i>. We go +to church to <i>worship</i> and to <i>learn</i>, and if favour is shown to +any class, no doubt it should be to the ignorant and the poor; +but this is a matter on which we are not left to our own judgment. +There are not many instructions in our Bibles as to +the manner of arranging our churches, but here the direction is +plain and unmistakable."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, sir! I had no idea that any thing about church +seats was to be found in the Bible."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but indeed there is. The passage to which I refer +is in St. James' Epistle; and it is this: '<i>My brethren, have +not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, +with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly +a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in +also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that +weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a +good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under +my footstool: are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become +judges of evil thoughts<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a>?</i>'"</p> + +<p>"If those words are in the Bible, I must confess the Bible is +against me; but I had no idea that they were there."</p> + +<p>"I assure you they are the exact words of Holy Scripture."</p> + +<p>"It's clear enough to me," interposed Mr. Parvener, "that +the labourer ought to have as good a place at church as the +lord. I don't think the church is the place to show off aristocratic +pride. Why, for that matter, there's many a man that +doesn't know who was his grandfather doing more for the +glory of God and the good of his fellow-creatures than your +grandest aristocrats." This was intended as a counter-thrust, +and it created a wider breach in the enemy's camp. +"But," continued he, "I don't see why, if all have good places +in the church, we should not make our own seats as comfortable +as we can."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but there comes in just what St. James tells us we +ought to keep out: the distinction between <i>riches and poverty</i>,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 195] </span> +distinctions which among our fellow-men have their advantages, +but not before God in His house. Just hear what St. +James says again: 'Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not +God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of +the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him? +But ye have despised the poor<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a>.' I was much struck with a +sermon I heard the other day on this subject. The preacher +said, 'If our Lord Jesus Christ were to enter some of our +churches just as He went to the temple at Jerusalem, do you +think He would take His seat in the luxuriously furnished pew +of the rich, or in the open bench of the poor<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a>?' Now, let me +ask you too, Mr. Parvener (for this is, after all, the sum and +substance of the matter), do you think that He 'who was rich, +yet for our sakes became poor<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a>,' and whose life was a perfect +pattern of <i>humility</i>, would sanction the distinctions which +either pride of station, or pride of riches, would create in the +House of Prayer?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I must say that's a solemn question, and it sets +one a-thinking more than I have thought before about this."</p> + +<p>"But, Mr. Beeland," said Sir John, interrupting, for he saw +the ground of his arguments was slipping from under him, +"you will acknowledge that these open benches in church are a +<i>novelty</i>, and you often talk to us about keeping to the <i>old paths</i>. +Now, here you are teaching us to strike out a new way altogether. +I wish I knew something more than I do about the +history of these pews."</p> + +<p>"I anticipated some such remark from you, and knowing +that my friend Mr. Ambrose is more learned than I am in all +these subjects, I induced him to join us this evening, and if he +will kindly give us the benefit of his information, he will, I am +sure, convince you that <i>pews, and not benches, are the modern +innovation</i>."</p> + +<p>"If you can have patience to listen to me," said the Vicar +of St. Catherine's, "I will gladly give you the history of pews, +as far I know it."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 197]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><b>CHAPTER XIX</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE NAVE</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>>"Take theses things hence; make not My Father's house +a house of merchandise."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">John</span> ii. 16.</p> +</blockquote><span class="pagenum">[Pg 198] </span> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 198]</span> +<span class="i0">"Not raised in nice proportions was the pile,<br></span> +<span class="i0">But large and massy; for duration built;<br></span> +<span class="i0">With pillars crowded, and the roof upheld<br></span> +<span class="i0">By naked rafters intricately cross'd,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Like leafless underboughs, 'mid some thick grove,<br></span> +<span class="i0">All wither'd by the depth of shade above,<br></span> +<span class="i0">... The floor<br></span> +<span class="i0">Of nave and aisle, in unpretending guise,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Was occupied by oaken benches ranged<br></span> +<span class="i0">In seemly rows."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Wordsworth.</span><br></span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 199] </span></div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 199]</span> +<a name="image213" id="image213"></a> +<img src="images/illus213.jpg" width="351" height="523" alt="All Saints' Church, Bradford" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE NAVE</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 201]</span> + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"I</span>n order to trace the history of pews<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> to their first +source, I must, as Mr. Beeland has hinted, go back to +a time when pews, as we now see them, had never been +thought of. It is pretty certain that the first seats in churches +were stone benches placed round the north, south, and west +walls, portions of which are still remaining in many old +churches<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a>. In some ancient churches in Ireland the stone +bench has also been found adjoining the <i>eastern</i> wall, the altar +being placed a little distance before it. In those early times +people were far less self-indulgent than at present in God's +House, and the usual custom was to stand or kneel during +the whole service. The first wooden seats were small stools, +each intended to seat one person, and placed in the nave as +suited the convenience of each occupier. Then came plain +benches, and next, benches with backs to them. The priest's +<i>reading-pew</i> was probably the origin of all pews. They seem to +have been unknown in any form till the end of the thirteenth +century, but the earliest record we have of a pew is 1602<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a>. +Next to the 'reading-pew' came the 'bride's pew<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a>,' the 'churching-pew,' +and the 'churchwarden's pew.' In the nave of Little<span class="pagenum">[Pg 202] </span> +Berningham Church, Norfolk, is a pew erected by a shepherd; +a skeleton carved in wood is fixed at the south-west corner of +it, and these lines are carved on the pew:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'For couples join'd in wedlock; and my friend<br></span> +<span class="i0">That stranger is: this seat I did intend,<br></span> +<span class="i0">But at the coste and charge of Stephen Crosbee.<br></span> +<span class="i3">All you that do this place pass by,<br></span> +<span class="i3">As you are now, even so was I—<br></span> +<span class="i3">Remember death, for you must dye,<br></span> +<span class="i3">And as I am, soe shall you be.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i7">'Anno Domini, 1640<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a>.'<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The general adoption of pews began with Puritanism, and +with its increase they too grew in width and stature. First of +all, people were satisfied with the uniform arrangement and +space of the old oak benches, only erecting on the top of +them an ugly and useless panelling of deal. This was bad +enough, but worse soon followed; and, to make the seats more +luxurious, first one bench was taken away, and the <i>two +benches</i> made <i>one pew</i>; then two were removed, then three, +till at last it required the removal of <i>six benches</i>, which +formerly would accommodate thirty persons, to make <i>one pew</i> +to accommodate two or three. Now, either men are giants +in these days and were pigmies in those days, or else the pride +and luxury of man claim a prominence now in God's House, +which was quite unknown then. I will ask either of you, gentlemen, +to decide which is the true explanation."</p> + +<p>"I fear it must be against ourselves," said Mr. Parvener.</p> + +<p>"I fear so, indeed<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a>. But now let me explain to you more +fully what are the real evils of this wretched pew system. And +first, as to the <i>private pew</i>—for, besides sharing in the evils of +<i>all</i> the rest, <i>it</i> has some peculiarly its own. Of these, the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 203] </span> +<i>pride</i> it fosters, and the '<i>respect of persons</i>,' so severely condemned +by St. James, are the worst. My dear sir, I assure +you it has often made my blood boil to see some poor old man +with his venerable bare head exposed to the cold draught of a +neglected part of the church, whilst a young, pampered son of +fortune has been cushioned up under the stately canopy of his +own pew<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a>. Oh, sir, I'm sure you must agree with me that this +is altogether against the spirit of Christianity! I'm no leveller +<i>out of church</i>; the social distinctions must be there kept up; +but <i>in God's House</i> these should have no place at all. Then, +surely, the <i>luxury</i> of many of these private pews is altogether +inconsistent with the object of our meeting in the House of +Prayer. It is—as it shows the progress of luxury, and its concomitant, +effeminacy—a curious circumstance, that when the +custom of having pews in our churches began to spread, they +were, by our hardy ancestors, considered as <i>too great indulgences</i>, +and as temptations to repose. Their curtains and bed-furniture, +their <i>cushions</i> and <i>sleep</i>, have, by a long association +of ideas, become intimately connected. The Puritans thought +<i>pews</i> the devil's <i>baby</i>, or <i>booby hutches</i><a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a>. I have heard that in +America they go even beyond us in the luxury of pews, and +that in Boston some of them are actually lined with <i>velvet</i><a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a>. I +believe that both there and here the private pew system has<span class="pagenum">[Pg 204] </span> +done very much, not only to force the poor from the Church, +but to drive many of all classes over to dissent."</p> + +<p>"I can't see how that can be," said the Baronet.</p> + +<p>Why, "naturally enough, sir, for they find all this the very +opposite to what the Church professes to be and to teach. +They see the rich exalted, and the poor debased; they find a +house of pride, instead of a house of prayer.</p> + +<p>"The <i>exclusiveness</i> of this system is one of the most curious +as well as absurd features in its history. True, the change in +our social habits has created a change for the better here; but +much of the old temper survives. You would hardly believe, +perhaps, that years ago it was not only considered an impropriety +for the squire and the dame to sit in the same pew with +any of their inferior fellow-worshippers, but the presence of +their own children<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> was even considered an indecent intrusion. +This was, indeed, ridiculous; but, in truth, the whole system +would be monstrously grotesque, were it not so very wicked.</p> + +<p>"There is a curious inscription on an old seat in a church +at Whalley, which seems to throw some light on the early +history of private pews; it is this:—'My man Shuttleworth, +of Hacking, made this form, and here will I sit when I come, +and my Cousin Nowell may make one behind me if he please, +and my sonne Sherburne shall make one on the other side, +and Mr. Catterall another behind him; and for the residue, the +use shall be first come first speed, and that will make the proud +wives of Whalley rise betimes to come to church<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a>.'</p> + +<p>"The first seat thus appropriated was, no doubt, a rude +wooden bench; but certain it is, that no sooner were even these +claimed as private property than <i>quarrelling</i> began<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a>; and the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 205] </span> +quarrel has, alas! been kept up to our own day. The right +to these <i>faculty pews</i>, as they are called, is, however, in most +cases very questionable, and often leads to costly law processes<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a>. +Many sensible men and earnest Churchmen are +giving up their supposed right to them, and are contented to +take their place in church like <i>ordinary mortals</i>. I sincerely +trust, gentlemen, this may be your case.</p> + +<p>"Now, let me notice a few of the evils which are common +to <i>all pews</i>. They tend to destroy the <i>unity</i> and <i>uniformity</i> of +common worship, which forms so grand a feature in our +church system. 'They are very inconvenient to <i>kneel</i> down +in, necessarily oblige some to sit with their backs to the +speaker, and when they rise up, present a scene of confusion, +as if they were running their heads against one another<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a>. As +God's House is a House of Praise and Prayer, so before all +things the arrangement there should have reference to the +proper <i>posture</i><a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> of praise and prayer. Then see how these +pews shelter and encourage <i>levity</i> in God's House. As long +ago as the year 1662, a bishop of Norwich wrote this satire +upon pews: 'There wants nothing but beds to hear the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 206] </span> +Word of God on. We have casements, locks and keys, and +cushions—I had almost said bolsters and pillows—and for +those we love the church. I will not guess what is done +within them: who sits, stands, or lies asleep at prayers, communion, +&c.; but this, I dare say, <i>they are either to hide some +vice or to proclaim one</i><a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a>.' I will only mention one more objection +to pews: they harbour dust and dirt<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a>, and otherwise +disfigure the beauty of our churches."</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Ambrose, I must confess myself brought to the +same opinion as yourself," said Sir John, "and the reformation +of the evil may commence at Droneworth to-morrow without +any obstacle whatever from me."</p> + +<p>"Nor yet from me," rejoined Mr. Parvener: "I certainly +never heard the case fairly stated before, and now I have, I +own I'm convinced."</p> + +<p>"Heartily glad, I'm sure, my friend here must be to part +with the old <i>half empty packing-cases</i>, and to see proper +benches in their place. And as you have been kind enough +to listen to me so far, I will just say a few more words to explain +the two desks which the Vicar has placed in the nave of +your church, and of which I heard you had disapproved. +One is the <i>Litany-desk</i>, or <i>faldstool</i><a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a>,—as it is called in the +Coronation Service. The Litany is a very solemn, penitential +service, and from very early times it has been said from the +appropriate place where the Vicar has placed the Litany-desk +in your church—namely, just at the entrance to the chancel. +Its position there has reference to that Litany of God's own +appointing, of which we read in the Book of Joel<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a>, where, in +a general assembly, the priests were to weep <i>between the porch +and the altar</i>, and to say, '<i>Spare Thy people, O Lord</i>.' In allusion +to this, our Litany—retaining also the same words of +supplication—is enjoined, by the royal injunctions<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a>, still in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 207] </span> +force, 'to be said or sung in the midst of the church, at a low +desk before the chancel-door<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a>.' The other desk is called the +<i>lectern</i>, or <i>lettern</i>, and sometimes the <i>eagle-desk</i>; and, as +you are aware, is the desk from which the lessons are read. +They were first made of wood, and often richly carved; afterwards +they were commonly made of brass or copper. They +were first used about the end of the thirteenth century, and +although most of our country churches have been despoiled of +them, yet they have never ceased to be used in our cathedrals, +as well as many other churches<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a>. The desk is often supported +by a pelican feeding its young with its own blood, the emblem +of our Saviour's love; more frequently it is supported by +an eagle, the symbolic representation of the Evangelist St. +John. It is true that both the faldstool and the lectern have long +been unknown at Droneworth, yet I feel sure you will not, +on second thoughts, consider the restoration of such convenient +and appropriate furniture as objectionable."</p> + +<p>The two late dissentients agreed that as they had overcome +the greater difficulty, they should withdraw all opposition +in the matter; and, it being now late, the party broke +up, each one feeling glad that a good thing had been done +on a good day.</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 209]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a><b>CHAPTER XX</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE AISLES</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise Him, O ye +servants of the Lord. Ye that stand in the house +of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Ps.</span> cxxxv. 1, 2.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 210]</span> +<span class="i0">"Three solemn parts together twine<br></span> +<span class="i0">In harmony's mysterious line<br></span> +<span class="i0">Three solemn aisles approach the shrine,<br></span> +<span class="i6">Yet all are one."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Keble.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 211]</span> +<a name="image225" id="image225"></a> +<img src="images/illus225.jpg" width="351" height="545" alt="Castle Cary Church" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE AISLES</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 213]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">M</span>r. Beeland accompanied his two friends some distance +on their way home.</p> + +<p>"I remember noticing," said Mr. Acres, "that the pews +of your two parishioners very much blocked up the <i>centre aisle</i> +of the church; their removal will much widen the aisle, which +will be a great improvement."</p> + +<p>"Forgive me for correcting you," said Mr. Ambrose, "there +can be no such thing as a <i>centre aisle</i>. You are speaking of +the centre <i>alley</i> or <i>passage</i>. The word <i>aisle</i><a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> can only refer to +the wing of a building, and it always denotes that portion of a +church which runs laterally north or south of the nave or +chancel. I see, Mr. Beeland, you have some work to do in +that aisle of yours before your church will be in good order."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is my greatest remaining difficulty. I have +observed that those of the congregation who occupy that +aisle are far less attentive and devotional than the rest; and +the reasons are obvious. They are cut off from the main +portion of the church, not only by the high backs of the +existing pews, and by the hat and cloak rails which run from +pillar to pillar, but also by needless masses of modern masonry. +Moreover, they can see nothing of that part of the church +which is sacred to the most solemn offices of our worship. +Then, again, what the people <i>do see</i> is enough to divert all +devotional thought and feeling from any but the <i>most</i> seriously +and religiously disposed."</p> + +<p>"You mean the hideous heathen monument which occupies the +east end of the aisle. If I remember rightly, it is a sort of monstrous +Roman altar, with four huge bull's heads at each corner."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 214] </span></p> + +<p>"Yes; it is in the centre of a mortuary chapel, once belonging +to a family named Bullock, and their frightful crest, in +gigantic proportions, is the one object on which the eyes of at +least a third of our congregation must rest, if they open their +eyes at all. I can hardly conceive any thing more calculated +to deaden the fervour of Christian worship than an object like +this placed before the gaze of the worshipper. Much as I +object to the bare walls of Dissenting meeting-houses, and the +many-altared aisles of Roman Catholic churches, I believe +neither are so distracting to the minds of the congregation +generally as are the mortuary chapels, with their uncouth +<i>adornments</i>, which occupy so large a space in the aisles of many +of our own churches. Unfortunately, this chapel now belongs +to a young man who has recently seceded to the Church of +Rome, and he will neither allow me to appropriate for the use +of the parishioners any of the space we so much need, nor will +he consent to have the unsightly monument removed to a less +conspicuous place."</p> + +<p>"The bitter hostility to wards the Church of their baptism, +and the utter absence of Christian sympathy in good works of +this nature, which characterize so many of those who have +fallen away from our Communion, is indeed most deplorable. +But even if your unreasonable and narrow-hearted parishioner +will oppose all improvement in that part of the aisle which—stolen +from God and His people—he claims as his own private +property, there is much you can do, when you set about your +work of restoration, to make that part of the church less isolated +than at present. At least, you can remove much of the useless +wood and masonry which now separate the aisle from the +nave."</p> + +<p>"I propose also to re-open the ancient hagioscope in +the south wall of the chancel, by which means the people in +the aisle will once more gain a view of the altar, and be +enabled to see and hear the priest when officiating there."</p> + +<p>"Will you kindly tell me, Mr. Beeland," said Mr. Acres, +"what are <i>hagioscopes</i><a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a>? I never remember having heard the +word before."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 215] </span></p> + +<p>"You probably have heard them called by their more common +name of <i>squints</i>. They are openings in the north or +south walls of the chancel, or perhaps more commonly in +the walls supporting the chancel arch, and are intended to give +a view of the altar to those who are worshipping in the aisles. +They are to be found in most old churches, but they have +commonly, as in our case, been bricked up. It is manifestly +very desirable that in all cases they should be restored, not +only on account of their architectural beauty, but also for their +practical utility in the services of the Church."</p> + +<p>The party then separated, and the Vicar of Droneworth took +back to his parish a lighter heart than he had known for many +a day.</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 217]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a><b>CHAPTER XXI</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE TRANSEPTS</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Ps.</span> xcvi. 6.</p> +</blockquote><span class="pagenum">[Pg 218] </span> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 218]</span> +<span class="i0">"Pace we the ground! our footsteps tread<br></span> +<span class="i0">A cross—the builder's holiest form—<br></span> +<span class="i0">That awful couch where once was shed<br></span> +<span class="i0">The blood with man's forgiveness warm,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And here, just where His mighty breast<br></span> +<span class="i0">Throbb'd the last agony away,<br></span> +<span class="i0">They bade the voice of worship rest,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And white-robed Levites pause and pray."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Hawker.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 219]</span> +<a name="image233" id="image233"></a> +<img src="images/illus233.jpg" width="351" height="458" alt="Church of SS. Peter and Paul, Ringwood" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE TRANSEPTS</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 221]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"M</span>uch of the objection which you have expressed to +the prevailing arrangement of the aisles," said Mr. +Acres, continuing the conversation with his Vicar, "seems to +me to apply also to that of the transepts—I believe that is the +proper name for those portions of a church which extend in a +<i>transverse</i> direction north and south?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the Vicar; "and the remedies for the evil are +in both cases nearly the same. Great inconvenience often +arises from the exclusive character of the parclose. I would +have the solid part of this made lower, and the upper part more +light and open."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, my friend, but I am ignorant as to what you +mean by the word <i>parclose</i>."</p> + +<p>"I refer now to the screen which encloses the chancel on the +north and south sides; but I believe the word may apply to +any screen in the church. By means of these screens, however, +the persons in the transepts are needlessly excluded from +a view of the altar."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but the change in them which you suggest would not +fully meet the difficulty, even if a squint or hagioscope should +also be provided."</p> + +<p>"I see that," said the Vicar; "and for that reason I would, +as a rule, only have those portions of the transepts nearest the +chancel fitted with permanent seats. On special occasions +chairs could be placed in the back parts; or, perhaps, the +whole of the transepts might be given up to the children of +the parochial schools, the elder children, who could best understand +the nature of the services, being placed in the front."</p> + +<p>"A very proper arrangement, indeed, I should think, for +all of them would be able at least to <i>hear</i>, and they would<span class="pagenum">[Pg 222] </span> +be conveniently placed for assisting in the musical parts of the +service. It has often struck me as the refinement of cruelty to +place these children in the remote damp corners of country +churches, where too often they are to be found; or, worse still, +in the topmost galleries of city churches, where the air they +breathe is heated and impure. In both cases there is a manifest +unconcern as well for the temporal as for the spiritual +welfare of these little ones of Christ's flock."</p> + +<p>"To whatever use, however, they may be applied, or even if +they are entirely unappropriated, so far as regards affording +accommodation for the congregation, I would, by all means, +wherever practicable, retain the transeptal arrangement of our +churches, not only as being the most ornamental form of +structure, but as preserving in the entire building the distinct +form of the <i>Cross</i>; and as symbolizing in the gathering together +of each congregation of Christ's Church—which is <i>His +Body</i>, that Body itself. Thus the nave represents the body, +the transepts the outstretched arms, and the chancel—being +the most excellent part of the church—the head<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> of our Lord. +Some perhaps might think it fanciful, but to me there is something +very solemn and beautiful in the idea, not only of the +church's whole fabric assuming these symbolic forms, but also +of the united prayers and praises of the congregation making, +as it were, in their very sound <i>the sign of the Cross</i>."</p> + +<p>"I think so too. And to my mind it has always seemed +that the grand symbolism which looks through, as it were, the +<i>whole</i> fabric of the church, and the <i>whole</i> congregation therein +assembled, was formerly much marred in our churches, when +there were <i>many</i> altars, dedicated to <i>many</i> saints, instead +of the <i>one</i> altar, which we now only retain, dedicated to the +<i>one Head</i> of the Christian Church."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and your remark, of course, applies specially to the +<i>transepts</i> about which we were speaking, since even in our +country churches every transept had its separate altar, the +<i>piscina</i> attached to which is still to be found in almost every +old church."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Pg_223" id="Pg_223"></a>[Pg 223] </span></p> + +<p>"I suppose," said Mr. Acres, "that beautiful Gothic niche +in our south transept which you recently restored is a <i>piscina</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is. The piscina was always placed on the south +side of the altar, and it was used chiefly as the receptacle for +the water used in cleansing the sacred vessels, or for that used +by the priest in washing his hands<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a>. It is to be found in our +earliest Norman churches, and evidently dates from the time +of their erection. There is often a <i>shelf</i> placed over the basin +of the piscina, which was used as a <i>credence</i><a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a>."</p> + +<p>"We heard much about the credence-table some time since," +interrupted the Squire, "when there was a suit in law about +this and some other matters; but I confess I am still ignorant +as to the purpose of the credence-table."</p> + +<p>"It is usually a small table, or, when forming part of the +piscina, a shelf, on which the elements intended for use at the +Eucharist are placed before their consecration. Just before +the prayer for the <i>church militant</i> in the Communion Service +there is this direction: 'The priest shall <i>then</i> place upon the +table (i.e. the altar) so much bread and wine as he shall think +sufficient.' Now, you see, it would be very inconvenient, and +a sad interruption of that part of the service, to bring these from +a distant part of the church. The ancient custom, therefore, of +placing the elements on the credence-table at the commencement +of the service is most convenient for the proper observance of +this rubric. And so, although the credence has only been +preserved as an interesting relic, or ornament in other parts of +the church, in the chancel it has been preserved or restored<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a>, +as being still a most useful and important part of the furniture +of the church."</p> + +<p>Having now arrived at the vicarage-gate, the two friends +bade each other good-night.</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 225]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a><b>CHAPTER XXII</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE CHANCEL SCREEN</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"The vail shall divide unto you between the holy place +and the most holy."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Exod.</span> xxvi. 33.</p> +</blockquote><span class="pagenum">[Pg 225] </span> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 226]</span> +<span class="i0">"I love the Church,—the holy Church,<br></span> +<span class="i1">The Saviour's spotless bride:<br></span> +<span class="i0">And, oh, I love her palaces<br></span> +<span class="i1">Through all the land so wide!<br></span> +<span class="i0">The cross-topp'd spire amid the trees,<br></span> +<span class="i1">The holy bell of prayer;<br></span> +<span class="i0">The music of our mother's voice,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Our mother's home is there.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I love the Church,—the holy Church,<br></span> +<span class="i1">That o'er our life presides;<br></span> +<span class="i0">The birth, the bridal, and the grave,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And many an hour besides!<br></span> +<span class="i0">Be mine, through life, to live in her,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And when the Lord shall call,<br></span> +<span class="i0">To die in her—the spouse of Christ,<br></span> +<span class="i1">The mother of us all."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noterlong"><i>Christian Ballads.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 227]</span> +<a name="image241" id="image241"></a> +<img src="images/illus241.jpg" width="351" height="524" alt="Church of St. John, Walworth" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE CHANCEL SCREEN</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 229]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">P</span>erhaps, gentle reader (all readers are supposed to be +"gentle,"—they <i>ought</i> to be), if you live in a retired +village, you will find that in the course of many years, your +village annals present little or nothing worthy of record, as +matter of general interest or importance; you will, therefore, +understand how that the past six years at the little village of +St. Catherine's have been so uneventful as to be noticed only +by a blank in our narrative. But now, on this twenty-sixth day +of June, in the year 1866, an event of no common interest in +a country parish is about to take place.</p> + +<p>Since their first meeting, four years ago, at the vicarage of +Droneworth, a close intimacy had grown up between the +families of Mr. Acres and his neighbour Sir John Adamley; +the upright integrity and manly candour which marked both +their characters soon begat a deep mutual respect, which, in +course of time, ripened into a warm friendship, now about to +be sealed in the marriage of the Baronet's eldest son Egbert +with Mr. Acres' eldest daughter Constance.</p> + +<p>The place is all astir betimes. Early in the morning a +merry peal is sounding from the old church tower, and many +hands are busy in decorating with flowers and evergreens +arches placed at intervals between the church and the Hall. It +is by no order of the Squire or his steward that these arches—erected +at no slight cost of money and labour—are put up; +they are the spontaneous expression of the interest which the +villagers themselves take in the day's rejoicing. There are +William Hardy, Robert Atkinson, Mr. Dole, even old Matthew +and his grandson, and indeed half the village, as busy as bees +in and out of the church, vying with each other in their endeavour +to make every thing look bright and joyful. Every one<span class="pagenum">[Pg 230] </span> +has put on something gay and cheerful, purchased specially for +the occasion; there is the light of honest gladness on every +face; and now that the children with their baskets of fresh +flowers stand ranged on either side of the pathway that leads +from the main road to the lich-gate, the scene is one of the +most picturesque that can be imagined....</p> + +<p>"Does Mr. Ambrose particularly wish that the first part of +the service should take place near the <i>chancel screen</i>?" inquires +Sir John.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answers the Squire; "it is always the custom here, +and I think you will afterwards acknowledge that this arrangement +is very fitting and appropriate; and, indeed, adds not a +little to the impressiveness of the ceremony."</p> + +<p>"I can quite imagine that; but what authority has the Vicar +for the practice?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is very plain. If you just look at your Prayer +Book, you will see this rubric at the commencement of the +Marriage Service: 'At the time appointed for the solemnization +of matrimony, the persons to be married shall come into the +<i>body of the church</i> with their friends and neighbours, and <i>there</i> +standing, the priest shall say'—then follows the address to the +congregation assembled, and the rest of the service, till the priest +pronounces the first blessing; and after that, the priests and +clerks, 'going to the Lord's Table,' are directed to say or sing +one of the Psalms, and it is evidently intended that the newly-married +persons should accompany them, for when the Psalm +is ended they are mentioned as 'kneeling before the Lord's +Table.' This procession to the altar of course loses much of +its meaning and impressiveness when there is no celebration +of Holy Communion. But, then, this ought not to be omitted, +except in very extreme cases."</p> + +<p>"I quite see now that Mr. Ambrose is following the rule of +the Church. I certainly never read the directions in the Service +before. I suppose, however, there is no particular part of the +body of the church named?"</p> + +<p>"No; I believe it is only ancient custom which decides +upon the chancel screen; it is, too, the most convenient part +of the church for this purpose." ...</p> + +<p>Why is it that all those young eyes are so bright with love,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 231] </span> +as from each ready hand falls the gay flowers at the feet of the +happy pair? Why is each knee bent during <i>every</i> prayer in +that solemn service? And, now, when the hands of Mr. +Ambrose rest on the heads of Constance and her husband, +as he pronounces over them the last blessing of the Church, why +does the deep <i>Amen</i> sound from <i>every</i> lip? Why is there that +breathless silence as those happy ones kneel before the altar +to bind themselves yet more closely together, and to God, in +Holy Communion? And now, as they come forth from God's +House, how is it that there is no faltering voice in all that +assembly as the glad shout of Christian joy rings up through +the air to heaven? I'll tell you. It is because the priest and +the Squire have ever recognized their joint duties in that +parish; because Constance has been a sister of charity and +mercy among the poor; because they have striven with all +their might to do the work God gave them to do; and now +they have their reward in the hearty affection and respect of +all their neighbours.</p> + +<p>There were but two exceptions to this general manifestation +of good feeling among the villagers, and they were the last +evil growth of the old Anabaptist schism in the parish. At +the same time that Egbert and Constance were breathing their +mutual vows beneath the old chancel screen of St Catherine's, +William Strike and Sally Sowerby were being "married" by +Mr. Gallio at the new register-office at Townend....</p> + +<p>"There is something very touching," said the Squire to Mr. +Ambrose, as they walked back together to the Hall, "in that +old custom preserved in our village of hanging a white glove +on the chancel screen<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a>. That was the very glove my dear +Mary wore when she promised to be the wife of Edward +Markland, and poor Edward himself placed it there. I saw +Constance's eyes fill with tears to-day as she ventured to give +one look at the sad memento."</p> + +<p>"The custom is fast dying out, and only survives in a few +rural parishes. Indeed, the very screens themselves have, you<span class="pagenum">[Pg 232] </span> +know, in most churches been swept away<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a>. The finer carving +is often to be found worked up into pews, and the large +timbers have been used in building galleries. Where these +screens were made of stone<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a>, they have generally been preserved +unharmed. In some cases, alas! people have not been +contented with demolishing the screen, but have actually in +their place built a gallery<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> for a family pew, extending all +across the front of the chancel, but I am thankful to say such +instances are very rare."</p> + +<p>"Will you kindly tell me the origin of the chancel screen?"</p> + +<p>"It was formerly called the rood screen, or rood gallery, and +where the rood has been restored, it is still properly so called. +The Gospel used to be read from this gallery, and sometimes +the psalms were sung there by the priests and choristers. The +custom of reading the Gospel from this position was evidently +intended to express a special respect for this portion of God's +Word; and so, for the same reason, now the Gospel is read +from the <i>north</i> side of the chancel, whilst the Epistle is read +from the south. The <i>rood</i><a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a>, which consisted of a crucifix with +the figure of the Blessed Virgin on one side, and of St. John on +the other, was placed at the top of the screen. Over this, and +between the chancel arch and the roof, the wall was painted, +the subject usually being the Doom, or representation of the +Last Judgment. To replace this, it would seem that, at the +Reformation, the Commandments were ordered to be painted +at the east end of the church."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 233] </span></p> + +<p>"You think, then," said the Squire, "that the order in the +canons does not refer to the east end of the <i>chancel</i>?"</p> + +<p>"It is a disputed point, but <i>I</i> think not. Had the chancel +been intended, I think it would have been so stated. Besides, +it was ordered that they should be so placed that the 'people +could best see and read the same,' and certainly they could not +do the latter if they were painted at the east end of the chancel. +Indeed, I regard that as the least convenient and appropriate +place in the whole church for them. If we have them any where, +the east end of the nave or aisles is the best place for them; +but, really, the need to have them at all is now passed away, +as those who can read, can read the Commandments in their +Bibles and Prayer Books; and for those who cannot, it is useless +placing them on the walls of the church<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a>. However, it is far +better to have the Commandments over the chancel arch than +the <i>royal arms</i>. It is wonderful how silly people become +when they have a superstitious dread of superstition. For +instance, I know a church where the congregation were offended +by an old painting in the church, the subject of which was at +least calculated to inspire solemn thoughts, yet could be contented +that the most conspicuous object in the church should be +a hideous representation of the royal arms, with this sentence +below it in large characters: 'Mrs. Jemima Diggs, widow, +gave this painting of the Queen's arms, A.D. 1710<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a>.' I should +like to know what there is in that to remind us that we are +in the House of God?"</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 235]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a><b>CHAPTER XXIII</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE CHANCEL</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"In this place is One greater than the temple."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">S. Matt.</span> xii. 6.</p> +</blockquote><span class="pagenum">[Pg 236] </span> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 236]</span> +<span class="i0">"Our life lies eastward: every day<br></span> +<span class="i0">Some little of that mystic way<br></span> +<span class="i0">By trembling feet is trod:<br></span> +<span class="i0">In thoughtful fast, and quiet feast,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Our thoughts go travelling to the East<br></span> +<span class="i0">To our incarnate God.<br></span> +<span class="i0">Fresh from the Font, our childhood's prime,<br></span> +<span class="i0">To life's most oriental time,—<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Still doth it eastward turn in prayer,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And rear its saving altar there:<br></span> +<span class="i0">Still doth it eastward turn in creed,<br></span> +<span class="i0">While faith in awe each gracious deed<br></span> +<span class="i0">Of her dear Saviour's love doth plead;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Still doth it turn at every line<br></span> +<span class="i0">To the fair East—in sweet mute sign<br></span> +<span class="i0">That through our weary strife and pain,<br></span> +<span class="i0">We crave our Eden back again."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Faber.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 399px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 237]</span> +<a name="image251" id="image251"></a> +<img src="images/illus251.jpg" width="399" height="264" alt="Sutton Benger Church" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE CHANCEL</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 239]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"I</span> hope you and my friend Mr. Beeland here are now +working harmoniously together at Droneworth," said +Mr. Ambrose to Sir John Adamley, as with Mr. Acres and the +Vicar of Droneworth they were enjoying a pleasant afternoon +stroll in the gardens of the Hall.</p> + +<p>"Well, I think we must say yes and no to that, for though +we have never had any difference of opinion respecting the +restoration of our church since the evening when I first had +the pleasure of meeting you—and, indeed, I am proud, and we +are all proud, of our renovated and beautiful church—yet +there is one point on which we cannot quite agree. You see +I am Lay Rector, and though I have long ago given up my old +selfish idea about pews, and only claim the space in the +church which I really want to occupy, yet I do consider that, +as the chancel belongs to me, I have a right to a place <i>there</i> +for my family and servants, as well as for myself. But, unfortunately, +Mr. Beeland thinks otherwise."</p> + +<p>"The chancel is furnished with handsome oak stalls for the +choristers, I believe; as every chancel ought to be. You propose, +if I understand you, to remove the choristers, and to +occupy the stalls for yourselves and servants?"</p> + +<p>"I think I have a right to do so."</p> + +<p>"The right is very doubtful. The position of a lay rector +is altogether an anomalous one; but the duty and the privilege +connected with it are, to my mind, definite and plain enough. +The duty is to keep out the wind and water from the chancel, +the privilege is to receive the great tithes of the parish. Now, +of course, this privilege and duty were originally never intended +to be associated with other than a spiritual office. The tithes +were for the support of the parish priest, and in return for<span class="pagenum">[Pg 240] </span> +them, there was laid upon him not only the spiritual supervision +of the parish, but also the duty of keeping the <i>shell</i> of +that portion of the church which was occupied by him and the +assisting clerks sound and entire. Now, of course, the rector, +being a priest, had a right to his proper place in the chancel; +and I by no means deny that the lay rector succeeds to the +same right; but my belief is that the right (if any) extends <i>no +farther than himself</i>. He represents the clerical rector, who +certainly could only claim a right to a seat for <i>himself</i>, and it +is my opinion the layman can claim no more. But, my dear +sir, this is surely a case where higher considerations than +mere legal rights should have influence. Even if you have the +right, ought you not to waive it? For you cannot doubt that +the chancel was never built to supply seats for the Squire's +family, but for the priest and those whose office it is specially +to assist him in <i>leading</i> the prayers and praises of the congregation. +No church is properly ordered where the chancel +stalls are not occupied by the choir; and you can only rightly +occupy a place there as one of them. So I venture to advise +you to follow the example of our friend Mr. Acres, and next +Sunday put on a surplice, and take your place as a member +of the choir, for you have a good bass voice, which would be +of great assistance there."</p> + +<p>"So you really think my claims as a lay rector should come +down to this?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, I think they should come <i>up</i> to this, for your highest, +as well as most fitting office as a lay rector, is to assist in his +duties the Vicar of your parish."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will think about that. You have studied these +matters much more deeply than I have, and you always have +the best of the argument. But I have something more to say. +I should like to have your opinion as to the proper arrangement +and furniture of the whole of the chancel<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a>, for ours has +not yet been completed, and I have undertaken to finish it."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 241] </span></p> + +<p>"I will gladly give you my opinion on the subject. Of +course, the altar should be the central and principal object +in the church. For this reason, the east of the chancel should +be the highest part, but for evident reasons the whole of the +chancel should be higher than the nave<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a>. There should be a +marked difference between the chancel—or choir, and the +sanctuary—or space immediately surrounding the altar; a +difference which had its type in the 'Holy Place' and the +'Holy of Holies' of the Jewish temple. The <i>lectern</i>—or desk, +from which the lessons are read, and the <i>faldstool</i>—or Litany +desk, may be either just without or within the chancel screen. +The <i>sedilia</i><a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a>—a stone recess for the seats of the officiating clergy, +with the <i>piscina</i><a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a>—should be on the south side, and the <i>credence</i><a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> +<i>table</i> may be on the north or south side of the altar. The <i>reredos</i><a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a>, +at the east end of the chancel, should be the most costly and +elaborate part of the church, as it is connected with the most +dignified portion of the building. Its most prominent feature +should be the symbol of our salvation, and whatever adornment +is employed, it should have distinct reference to the 'sacrifice +of the death of Christ.' <i>Empty niches</i> should here and every +where be carefully avoided; for they have little beauty and no +meaning. Without their tenants, they are ridiculous forms of ornamentation, +for the corbel—or bracket, has no meaning unless it +is intended to support a figure, nor its canopy, unless intended +to shelter and protect one. I have seen slabs containing epitaphs +and the armorial bearings of private persons, as well as the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 242] </span> +royal shield, substituted for a proper reredos, but this is a sad +profanation<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a>. There is one thing worse; and that is engraving +armorial bearings on the sacred vessels. The <i>prayer desk</i><a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> +should form part of the choir stalls, and look in the same direction; +this desk should not face the congregation, as the priest +does not preach the prayers <i>to</i> the congregation, but says the +prayers <i>with</i> them. When the Absolution is said, the case is +different, and the propriety of the change of posture and position +is evident. This is directly addressed <i>to</i> the congregation, +and to be 'pronounced by the priest <i>standing</i>.' So in the +Communion Office the Priest is directed to <i>stand up, and, +turning himself to the people, pronounce the Absolution</i>."</p> + +<p>"I quite acknowledge the justness of what you say on these +points, and shall gladly avail myself of your further counsel; +specially I shall be grateful for your advice respecting the construction +of the <i>altar</i>, and providing its proper furniture: but I +have now already trespassed so long on your time, that I must +only ask you to explain one thing more, and that is the meaning +of the two little hollow square places in the north wall of +our chancel."</p> + +<p>"They formerly were closets, and had doors, no doubt, of +carved oak. They are commonly called <i>almeries</i>, and are to be +found in all old churches, their use in the chancel being to hold<span class="pagenum">[Pg 243] </span> +the sacred vessels used at the altar; even where they can no +longer be utilized, they ought to be preserved as objects of +interest<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a>."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 399px;"> +<a name="image257" id="image257"></a> +<img src="images/illus257.jpg" width="399" height="310" alt="Llanfaenor Church" title=""> +</div><br> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 245]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a><b>CHAPTER XXIV</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE ALTAR</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"We have an altar."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Heb.</span> xiii. 10.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 246]</span> +<span class="i0">"Whene'er I seek the holy altar's rail,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And kneel to take the grace there offer'd me,<br></span> +<span class="i0">It is no time to task my reason frail,<br></span> +<span class="i1">To try Christ's words, and search how they may be.<br></span> +<span class="i0">Enough, I eat His flesh, and drink His blood;<br></span> +<span class="i0">More is not told—to ask it is not good.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I will not say with these, that bread and wine<br></span> +<span class="i1">Have vanish'd at the consecration prayer;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Far less, with those, deny that aught Divine,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And of immortal seed, is hidden there.<br></span> +<span class="i0">Hence, disputants! The din which ye admire<br></span> +<span class="i0">Keeps but ill measure with the church's choir."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noterlong"><i>Lyra Apostolica.</i><br></span></div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 247]</span> +<a name="image261" id="image261"></a> +<img src="images/illus261.jpg" width="351" height="496" alt="St. Alban's Church, Holborn" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE ALTAR</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 249]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">I</span>t was late in the evening before the other guests had left +the Hall, and our four friends sat down together in the +library, without fear of interruption, to continue the conversation +of the afternoon.</p> + +<p>"I should like you to tell me, Mr. Ambrose," said Sir +John, "whether you consider that the word <i>altar</i> is properly +applied to a table made of wood."</p> + +<p>"Oh, most certainly it is. The term is equally applicable, +whether the altar be made of wood or stone. No doubt stone +was the material first used<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a>, yet at so early a period as the +building of the tabernacle, we read that God commanded +Moses to make an altar of <i>wood</i><a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a>. In the earliest days of the +Christian Church the altars were, probably without exception, +made of wood; but afterwards it became the practice to erect +them of stone, and from the sixth<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> to the sixteenth century this +rule was all but universal."</p> + +<p>"How is the change to be accounted for?"</p> + +<p>"During the persecutions of the early Christians under the +heathen Emperors of Rome, they resorted, as you are aware, to +the subterranean catacombs there, as the only places where +they could, in comparative safety, hold their religious services. +Here the stone altar-tombs of those who had suffered martyrdom +offered the most convenient and fitting altars for the +celebration of the Holy Eucharist. In after times, when the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 250] </span> +Church was prosperous and at peace, the remembrance of these +altar-tombs not only suggested the material for the Christian +altar, but also the custom of erecting it over the relics of saints +and martyrs. This custom of building the altar over the bones +of martyrs (which is still continued in the Roman Church, +but which has for many years ceased to be the practice in +our own), is, moreover, supposed to have reference to that +mysterious vision in the Revelation of St. John, which you will +remember he thus describes: 'When the Lamb had opened +the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were +slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they +held<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a>.'</p> + +<p>"The use of stone instead of wood was, no doubt, adopted +also for other reasons than the one I have stated. Stone altars +were less liable to desecration; they possess, too, a symbolism +of their own, representing both the <i>incarnation</i> and <i>entombment</i> +of our Blessed Lord<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a>. The scriptural symbol of a Rock<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a>, as +representing our Lord, might appear to be more evidently connected +with the stone than the wooden altar, but this symbol +must always be associated with the idea of altar, of whatever +material it is made. The wooden altar, on the other hand, +may seem to refer more directly to the <i>institution</i> of the <i>Lord's +Supper</i>; and the altar candlesticks have, of course, a peculiar and +very manifest appropriateness when the altar is so considered."</p> + +<p>"But surely, my friend, the word <i>table</i> seems to be here +exactly applicable."</p> + +<p>"Yes, so it is; but you must not try to separate things +which are inseparable. Every altar is a table, though every +table is not an altar. Both terms are correct, but the one +must not be supposed to exclude the other; and it would be +strange indeed if, having a <i>priest</i> and an <i>oblation</i><a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a>, the church +should be without an <i>altar</i>. The top slab of the altar is the +table<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a>, whether it is made of wood or stone. Where this slab is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 251] </span> +of stone, it has from early times been considered to represent +the stone rolled to the mouth of the sepulchre of our Lord. In +the Greek Church the <i>seal</i> that was set on the stone<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> is represented +by the consecrated wafer; in the Roman Church this +seal is represented by the small square stone let into the centre +of the altar table<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a>. In the primitive Church there was but one +altar in each church, but afterwards it became a custom to +erect many others, dedicated to as many saints and martyrs. +This was the custom in our own Church—just as it is still +in the Roman Church—before Queen Elizabeth ordered all +altars to be removed in every church, except the <i>high altar</i>, +which is the only one we now retain; and, for my part, I certainly +wish for no other. But at the same time <i>all stone altars</i> +were ordered to be removed, and then altars of wood were +once more placed in almost every church. I am sorry to say +the old stone altars were broken up and desecrated. Some +few, however, of them escaped<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a>, and many more have since +that time been erected. There are probably hundreds of stone +altars to be found in our cathedrals, college chapels, and parish +churches, and I don't suppose (though some seem to do so) +that people attach more superstitious meaning to them than to +the most modern oaken Communion table. But, as I said +before, to my mind it is indifferent whether the altar be of +wood or stone."</p> + +<p>"I should like your opinion about the proper furniture for +the altar."</p> + +<p>"First, with regard to its <i>covering</i>: the canon directs that +the altar shall be covered with 'a carpet of silk, or other decent +stuff' on ordinary occasions, and with 'a fair linen cloth' at<span class="pagenum">[Pg 252] </span> +the time of the celebration of Holy Communion. This order +allows considerable liberty as to colour and pattern; but it +appears to imply that it should be as rich as the circumstances +of each case will allow<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a>. Where cloths of more than one +colour are used, these five—in accordance with very ancient +practice—are commonly employed as specially adapted to the +different seasons of the Christian year: <i>white</i>, at Christmas +and certain other festivals, as emblematical of purity; <i>red</i>, as +representing the blood of martyrs, and at Pentecost, as emblematic +of the fiery tongues; <i>green</i>, for general use, as the prevailing +colour of nature, and a sort of middle colour between the +rest in use; <i>violet</i> and <i>black</i> as colours of mourning."</p> + +<p>"But, surely, this variety is <i>unnecessary</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Most assuredly. Nevertheless, where they can conveniently +be had, they are <i>appropriate</i>, and teach their own +lesson. It was not <i>necessary</i> to put a cloth of black on the +altar at Droneworth when your father died two years since; +and I am doubtful whether Mr. Beeland was quite right in +doing so. But surely if you thought it was right for him to do +this at the funeral of a mere mortal man, you cannot say +that it is wrong to use a black altar-cloth on <i>Good Friday</i>; +and, of course, the same argument applies to all the rest. With +regard to the custom in some places of covering half the church +with black for a month, because some rich man has died in the +parish—I say plainly that I regard that as next to impiety and +profanation."</p> + +<p>"I see the justness of your words. What do you say to +<i>cushions</i> on the altar?"</p> + +<p>"Say! <i>they ought never to be there</i>. I can imagine nothing more +out of place. I have often wondered for what purpose they could +originally have been put there. They are certainly not required, +nor yet convenient as a rest for the Altar Service Book. It is +too shocking to suppose they were intended to enable the priest +to rest his arms and head softly on God's altar! I have sometimes<span class="pagenum">[Pg 253] </span> +fancied I see their origin in an old custom observed in +the Roman Church of placing the two lambs, whose wool was +used for making the palls<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> with which the Bishop of Rome +invests his archbishops with their archiepiscopal authority, +on <i>two richly embroidered cushions, one of which was placed +on the north, the other on the south side of the altar</i>; but I know +not. A <i>desk</i> of brass or oak is convenient to support the +office-book, and <i>two candles</i> are ordered to be placed on the +altar."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear sir, I am told that is a very <i>Romish</i> +custom."</p> + +<p>"Well, Sir John, and so it is a very Romish custom to say +the Lord's Prayer, and it is a very Hindoo custom for a wife +to love her husband with a special devotion; but we shall not, +for either reason, be disposed to blame either custom. The +thing with us, like every thing else, is either right or wrong <i>in +itself</i>, independent of the use of any other Church. But it so +happens that this is the very reverse to a Romish custom, for +these two candles were ordered to be placed on the altar in +direct opposition to the custom of the Roman Catholic +Church<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a>. Nothing can be more expressive, and utterly unobjectionable, +than the symbolism of these <i>two</i> candles (of course, +it is not <i>necessary</i> that they should be <i>lighted</i> in order to preserve +their emblematic meaning), and I should be very sorry to see +this simple symbolism broken into by the introduction of more +than two lights upon the altar<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a>. I have not by any means<span class="pagenum">[Pg 254] </span> +mentioned all that is required for the service of the altar; I +have only spoken of its ordinary furniture. That which is +specially required for the Eucharistic services is, doubtless, +already provided in your church."</p> + +<p>"Before we say good-night," said Mr. Acres, "let me ask +you one question indirectly connected with this subject. I +notice that many of my neighbours receive the consecrated +bread <i>on the palm of the hand</i>, some holding both hands in +the form of a cross. I suppose this is in accordance with your +instruction: I should like to know the reason for it. Where +there are high altar-rails—which I much object to, and which, +of course, are altogether unnecessary when the chancel screen +is properly arranged, as with us—this custom would be very +inconvenient."</p> + +<p>"The short rail, north and south, for the use of the aged and +infirm, is certainly all that is required. As regards the manner +of receiving the sacred element, to which you refer, I certainly +have recommended it, and for these reasons: it is much more +convenient both for the priest and the communicant; it avoids +all danger of any portion of the bread falling on the floor; and +it is most in accordance with the rubric, which directs that the +minister shall deliver the communion <i>into</i> the hands of the +recipients."</p> + +<p>"Thank you. I consider your reasons as amply sufficient, +and I see no possible objection to the custom."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 255]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a><b>CHAPTER XXV</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE ORGAN-CHAMBER</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded +with a linen ephod."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'>1 <span class="smcap">Sam.</span> ii. 18.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 256]</span> +<span class="i0">"But let my due feet never fail<br></span> +<span class="i0">To walk the studious cloisters pale,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And love the high embowèd roof,<br></span> +<span class="i0">With antique pillars, massy proof,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And storied windows, richly dight,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Casting a dim religious light.<br></span> +<span class="i0">There let the pealing organ blow,<br></span> +<span class="i0">To the full-voiced quire below,<br></span> +<span class="i0">In service high, and anthems clear,<br></span> +<span class="i0">As may with sweetness, through mine ear,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Dissolve me into ecstasies,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And bring all Heaven before mine eyes."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><i>Il Penseroso.</i><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 399px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 257]</span> +<a name="image271" id="image271"></a> +<img src="images/illus271.jpg" width="399" height="245" alt="Icklesham Church" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE ORGAN-CHAMBER.</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 259]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"A</span>nd so, Harry, my boy, you have really made up your +mind to be a chorister?" said Mr. Ambrose to old +Matthew's grandson, one Sunday morning.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you please, sir," was his reply. "Grandfather says +he should like me to be one."</p> + +<p>"And you wish it yourself, do you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Very well. You are a well-conducted boy, and God has +given you a good musical voice, so we shall be very pleased +to have you amongst us. But you must never forget that +there is not only a high honour, but also a very solemn +responsibility connected with the office of a chorister. Always +remember, then, that you are in a very especial way <i>God's +servant</i>, that His eye is upon you, and that He will expect you +to do your duty in the <i>very best way you possibly can</i>. You +must <i>sing and give praise with the best member that you have</i><a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a>—that +is, you must devote to God's praise and glory the very +best service you can render. You are a little boy to talk to +about setting a good example to a congregation, composed for +the most part of persons so much older than yourself, but yet that +is one of your chief duties. When you are in the choir, the +eyes of all the congregation are upon you, and they should not +only <i>hear</i> you singing as well as you can, and so be led themselves +to join heartily in the musical parts of the service, but also <i>at +all other times</i> they should <i>see</i> you reverent and devout in your +conduct; and be sure, my boy, this good and serious behaviour +of yours will have its influence upon others, though perhaps +they may be hardly conscious of it. Now there is enough in +this to make you very serious, but yet the thought that God<span class="pagenum">[Pg 260] </span> +permits you in your young years thus to help in promoting His +glory, and to be such a blessing to your fellow-creatures, should +make you very happy and very thankful to Him." ...</p> + +<p>Before the commencement of the Morning Prayers little +Harry was solemnly admitted a member of the choir. The +ceremony was a very simple, but yet a very solemn one. On +this occasion the usual order of entering the church was reversed. +Mr. Ambrose came first, then the eight senior members +of the choir, then the seven boy choristers, and last came +Harry. All wore their surplices except Harry, and he carried +his new little surplice on his arm. During the procession +solemn music was played on the organ. As soon as it +ceased, all knelt down to say their private prayers, Harry +kneeling on a cushion prepared for him at the entrance to the +chancel. It was the custom at St. Catherine's for all the congregation +to stand up when the priest and choir entered; which +custom, besides being a mark of respect for His presence to +whom they were about to dedicate their worship and service, +had this advantage—that it induced all to say their private +prayers at the same time, and thus avoided much confusion; +it tended also to prepare the mind <i>at once</i> to enter into the +spirit of the <i>public</i> service.</p> + +<p>After a short pause, Mr. Ambrose read a portion of the +third chapter of the first book of Samuel. He then addressed +Harry in these words:—</p> + +<p>"Henry, before I proceed to admit you a member of the +choir of this church, you must promise, before God and this +congregation, that in the solemn office on which you are about +to enter, you will always strive above all things to promote His +glory. Do you so promise?"</p> + +<p>Little Harry, in a timid, trembling voice, answered, "I do +so promise."</p> + +<p>The Vicar and choir then sang, alternately, the following +sentences:—</p> + +<p><i>Priest.</i>—"Our help is in the name of the Lord;"</p> + +<p><i>Choir.</i>—"Who made heaven and earth."</p> + +<p><i>P.</i>—"O Lord, bless and keep this Thy servant;"</p> + +<p><i>C.</i>—"Who putteth his trust in Thee."</p> + +<p><i>P.</i>—"Accept his service in this Thy House;"<span class="pagenum">[Pg 261] </span></p> + +<p><i>C.</i>—"And make the voice of Thy praise to be glorious."</p> + +<p><i>P.</i>—"Lord, hear our prayer;"</p> + +<p><i>C.</i>—"And let our crying come unto Thee."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ambrose then read these verses:—</p> + +<p>"And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of +the holy place—also the Levites, which were the singers, +all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons +and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having +cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end +of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests +sounding with trumpets:—it came even to pass as the trumpeters +and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in +praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their +voice with the trumpets and cymbals, and instruments of +music, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His +mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a +cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not +stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the +Lord had filled the house of God<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a>."</p> + +<p>The choir then sang, "Glory be to Thee, O God," during +which time the senior choir boy led little Harry into the +middle of the choir, where he knelt down on a cushion prepared +for him.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ambrose then said this prayer: "O most merciful +Father, before whom 'Samuel ministered, being a child, girded +with a linen ephod,' give, we pray Thee, to this Thy youthful +servant such gifts as shall enable him to sing Thy praise, and +promote Thy glory in this Thy Temple, and grace to worship +Thee acceptably in the beauty of holiness, and to adorn the +doctrine of Christ his Saviour in all things. Amen."</p> + +<p>Harry then stood up, and as Mr. Ambrose placed on him +his little surplice, he said,—</p> + +<p>"Henry, I robe you in this surplice in token that you are +now set apart to be a chorister, and, together with those around +you, to assist in the high and glorious work of leading the +praises of God in this church: let the whiteness of this robe +always remind you of that purity which should mark the +service you here offer up to God. I pray you never, either here<span class="pagenum">[Pg 262]</span> +or elsewhere, to disgrace this robe of your solemn office. What +you sing with your lips believe in your heart, and what you +believe in your heart fulfil in your life; and may God so bless +and protect you, that when this life is ended, you may join +that angel choir who in robes of white sing before the Throne, +'Glory to God and to the Lamb for ever and ever.' Amen."</p> + +<p>The new chorister then took his place in the choir, whilst +the organ almost thundered the following chorus, in which all +joined:—</p> + +<p>"O Great and Mighty God, with angels and archangels we +laud and magnify Thy glorious name. Amen."</p> + +<p>The usual morning service then proceeded. Many eyes +were fixed on the earnest, thoughtful little face that appeared +for the first time in the choir; and with not a little pardonable +pride did old Matthew watch the hearty efforts of his +grandson to fulfil the promise he had just made.</p> + +<p>It had long been a custom for the Vicar and Mr. Mendles, +the organist, to partake of a late meal at the Hall when their +Sunday duties were ended; and on this Sunday evening the +Squire accompanied them home from church.</p> + +<p>"Our little friend," said he, "will be quite an acquisition to +the choir; he has a very sweet voice."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he has," replied the Vicar; "and what is of no less +importance, he is sure to conduct himself well. But, for that +matter, I have no reason to complain of any one of our choir; +for, thanks to Mr. Mendles, and to their own sense of propriety, +I don't believe there is a better conducted choir in any +parish than ours."</p> + +<p>"That is very much owing to your allowing no men to be +there who are not communicants."</p> + +<p>"That's a good rule, no doubt, and accounts, perhaps, more +than any thing for their reverent behaviour. You well know, +Mr. Mendles, there was little reverence enough once."</p> + +<p>"The great difficulty," said Mr. Mendles, "is to persuade +the choir that they should sing to God, <i>with</i> the congregation, +not <i>to</i> the congregation. I strive both to learn myself, and to +teach them, that our singing should be <i>worship</i>, not the mere +exhibition of <i>talent</i>, and that we ought to rejoice when the congregation +<i>join in</i>, not when they only <i>listen to</i> our hymns and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 263] </span> +chants. I believe we have now learnt the lesson, and are the +happier for it."</p> + +<p>"And we all feel the benefit of that lesson too," said the +Vicar, "for whereas formerly nothing but flashy tunes which +enabled them to show off their own talent would please the +choir, we have now, thank God, a solemn and devotional character +in the music of our liturgical services, and a joyful gladness +in the music of our hymns—equally far removed from +levity and from mournfulness—which, with our praises and our +prayers, seem to float up our very souls to heaven."</p> + +<p>"I think we must attribute the success of our musical services +in some measure to the new position of the organ, must +we not, Mr. Mendles?" said the Squire.</p> + +<p>"Most certainly. There can be no doubt that the most +convenient position for the organ-chamber is either on the +north or south side of the chancel; or, if the organ is divided, +on both sides. It is a misfortune that, as organs were but +little known when most of our old churches were erected<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a>, we +find no fitting place provided for them in the original structure. +There is, however, no excuse for our modern architects who +are guilty of such an omission; and it is a matter of surprise to +me that they do not make the organ-chamber a feature of more +prominence and greater beauty, both externally and internally, +than they are accustomed to do."</p> + +<p>"True," said the Squire; "specially as in our days the organ +is regarded as all but a necessity in every church. Certainly, +there is no musical instrument so suitable for congregational +worship, for whilst it represents all kinds of music, it exactly +realizes the description given in the account of the dedication +of the temple which Mr. Ambrose read this morning, and +brings together the cymbals and the psalteries and the harps, +and the trumpeters and the singers '<i>as one</i>.'</p> + +<p>"It is a curious fact—is it not, sir?—that whereas the presence<span class="pagenum">[Pg 264] </span> +of organs in our churches used to be the source of great +offence to Dissenters in this country, and has recently been +the subject of much dispute among Presbyterian Dissenters, +yet you can now hardly find a Dissenting meeting-house +of any size but can boast of its organ, and often a very good +one too. Let us hope, Mr. Vicar, that ere long they, may become +reconciled also to other things in our Church which now +they may regard with the same horror with which they once +looked upon the church organ."</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 265]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a><b>CHAPTER XXVI</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE VESTRY</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Let all things be done decently and in order."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'>1 <span class="smcap">Cor.</span> xiv. 40.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 266]</span> +<span class="i0">"Avoid profaneness! Come not here.<br></span> +<span class="i0">Nothing but holy, pure, and clear,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Or that which groaneth to be so,<br></span> +<span class="i0">May at his peril farther go."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">George Herbert.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 399px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 267]</span> +<a name="image281" id="image281"></a> +<img src="images/illus281.jpg" width="399" height="235" alt="Harpsden Church" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE VESTRY</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 269]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">T</span>o the close friendship which existed between the Squire +and the Vicar, constantly cemented by such meetings +as we have just described, was owing, in a considerable degree, +the general harmony and goodwill which made St. Catherine's +one of the most peaceful villages in England. When, many +years ago, Mr. Ambrose first became Vicar there, he felt it +his duty to make many changes in a parish which had been +long neglected, and in a church which was almost a ruin. +His labours were then regarded with much suspicion and disfavour; +but he had now been long enough resident in the +parish to live down all that hostile feeling. Nevertheless, it was +not all peace at St. Catherine's. From time to time there would +be an importation of cross-grained malcontents, who usually +succeeded in stirring up some parochial strife.</p> + +<p>Such had for some time past been the laudable occupation +of William Strike and his too faithful companion, whom, by +kind permission of Mr. Gallio, the registrar, he was allowed +to call his wife. He had never promised to love her, and +she had never promised to obey him, and on these little +points each scrupulously maintained a right to act in perfect +independence of the other: nevertheless, they heartily united +in a common effort to instil into the minds of their neighbours +a feeling of hostility to wards the church; and some discord +in the parish was the natural consequence. An opportunity +offered on the morning of Easter Monday for Strike to find +a full vent for all his spleen.</p> + +<p>It is a sad, sad thought, that at this season of the Christian +year, when all should be peace, the bitterness of party strife +should break up the harmony of so many parishes. But so it<span class="pagenum">[Pg 270]</span> +is; and so it was at St. Catherine's; and this one man was at +the bottom of all the mischief.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to see you are going to the vestry this morning, +William," said Mr. Dole, as they met in the village street.</p> + +<p>"I've as much right there as you have, I suppose," he replied; +"you're going to support the Vicar, and I'm going to +oppose him thick and thin."</p> + +<p>"Peace is better than war, William."</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>you</i> used to be on our side once, and I should like to +know what's made you turn round?"</p> + +<p>"It would take too long to answer that question fully, +William. It will be enough if I tell you that where I thought I +knew most, I found myself all wrong; and the more I thought +and inquired, the more convinced I was that there could be +only one true Church committed by Christ to His Apostles and +their successors, and that to separate from that, and cause +division and schism, must be a sin. After long and prayerful +consideration, and many conversations with Mr. Ambrose on the +subject, I was convinced that the sect to which I belonged—and +you do still—was not the one true Church; and so I left it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't mean to leave it; and I don't mean that the +parson shall have it all his own way in this parish."</p> + +<p>Mr. Dole had in vain tried to bring his companion to a +better mind when they reached the vestry<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a>. It was a small +chamber on the opposite side of the chancel to the organ<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a>, and +there was a sombreness about it that harmonized with the +solemn use for which it was intended. On the eastern side +were two small windows filled with stained glass, and over +them, in large letters, was the sentence, "Let thy priests be +clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints sing with joyfulness." +Between these two windows stood an oaken table, on<span class="pagenum">[Pg 271] </span> +which was a small desk or lectern; and on this, written in +beautifully illuminated characters, were the prayers used by +Mr. Ambrose and the choir before and after the Church +services. Before the table was a small embroidered kneeling +cushion for the priest at these times. The parish chest<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a>, and +two ancient chairs, all of oak and richly carved, completed the +furniture of the vestry; whilst on its walls were hung the surplices +of the choir and the vestments of the priest<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a>.</p> + +<p>The meeting was called together for the double purpose of +electing churchwardens and making a church-rate, and it was soon +evident to the Vicar that Strike and his friends had come determined +on a stormy meeting. But few angry words, however, +had been spoken, when Mr. Ambrose rose and said, "My +friends, I had hoped that this meeting would have been conducted +in that spirit of Christian charity and peacefulness which +has been our custom; but as I find this is not to be the case, +I will not allow any part of God's House to be desecrated +by the exhibition of party animosity and angry strife<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a>. This +vestry is known to those of you who are associated with me in +conducting our religious services, as the place of holy meditation +and solemn prayer; nor are its associations less sacred +to those among you who have come here, with unquiet consciences +or troubled minds, to seek my counsel and advice.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 272] </span> +All around us here, my friends, reminds us of the service of a +God of love; so if the Demon of Discord must come into our +little parish, let this place, at least, not be the scene of his +unhallowed presence."</p> + +<p>It was then proposed to adjourn the meeting to the house +of Mr. Walton; and he, having both a good heart under his +waistcoat, and a large room in his house, readily agreed to the +proposal. He was, moreover, one of the churchwardens, and, +though the village blacksmith, was a man in good circumstances, +and exercised considerable influence for good in the +parish.</p> + +<p>Nothing can be less profitable than to read the "foolish +talking" which commonly characterizes a discordant vestry +meeting; we will, therefore, pass that over. The churchwardens +were re-elected, and the church-rate was carried. The Vicar +then endeavoured to pour oil upon the troubled waters by +delivering a kind and friendly address, which he ended in +these words: "Mr. Strike tells you that he will always oppose +the Church so long as it is in any way supported by the State. +But let me remind him that the Church did not receive from +the State the possessions with which she is endowed for the +maintenance of true religion in this land. Those were, for the +most part, given to our Church by pious men and women, +many hundreds of years ago; and the State, in securing these +to us, is only acting with common honesty, and doing no more +for the Church than it does for every other society—indeed, +for every person—in the country. But Mr. Strike tells you, +too, he will not give a penny for keeping up the fabric of +the Church, because he is a Dissenter. Now, my friends, to +take the <i>very lowest</i> view of the Church, and regarding her +temples only as places in which a high standard of <i>morality</i> is +set up, it is surely for the advantage of the <i>State</i>, and for the +<i>community</i>, that they should be maintained; and, therefore, <i>all</i> +should help to maintain them. 'Yes,' you say, 'but we teach +morality, too, in our little Salem Chapel at Droneworth: why +should not our meeting-house be supported as much as your +Church?' My answer is, that your Salem Chapel may any +day share the fate of the Little Bethel Meeting-House that used +to be in our parish. Besides, on your own principles, you<span class="pagenum">[Pg 273] </span> +cannot accept State aid to keep it up. Of course I have myself +higher reasons for considering it the duty of the State to secure +the proper reparation of the fabric of our churches; but I have +only taken the lowest ground; I think, however, that even that +is firm enough to bear the weight of the whole argument. But +now, my friends, let us part in peace, and let all angry feeling +die away."</p> + +<p>"The church-rates will soon be done away with altogether, +depend upon it, sir," shouted Mr. Strike, in a tone which was +an evident protestation against that spirit of peace which Mr. +Ambrose was so anxious should pervade his parish.</p> + +<p>"It may be so," said the Vicar; "and if so, I believe and +pray that God will overrule even that for the benefit of His +Church."</p> + +<p>And so the St. Catherine's vestry ended.</p> + +<p>"I am heartily glad," said Mr. Acres to the Vicar, "that we +did not have all that row in the church to-day. Sorry as I am +to make Mr. Walton's house the scene of such discord, yet I +am sure he would far rather have it here than in the church +vestry."</p> + +<p>"Any where's better than the church," said Mr. Walton, "for +such quarrels as these."</p> + +<p>"By the bye," said Mr. Acres, as they both rose to depart, +"do you remember the time when the churchwardens used to +retire to the vestry before the conclusion of the service to count +up the alms? We could, you know, hear the jingling of the +money during all the later prayers of the service, and a most +indecent interruption it was. How far more seemly is your +custom of reverently presenting the alms at the altar, where it +remains till the close of the service. And I am so grateful to +you for abandoning that objectionable and most ridiculous custom +of holding the <i>plates</i> at the church door. The custom +seemed so completely to do away with the idea of almsgiving +as an <i>act of worship</i>. How many a wickedly grotesque scene +has occurred at the door of our own church, plainly showing +that many who contributed their alms simply gave them to Mr. +Walton or Mr. Acres, and least of all thought of giving them <i>to +God</i>. Nay, so anxious was dear old Lady Angelina Hilltower +and her daughter to confer upon <i>us</i> equal honour, and to avoid<span class="pagenum">[Pg 274] </span> +any just cause of jealousy between us, that they used to create +quite a pantomime at the door whenever there was a collection, +by crossing over to put half-a-crown in each plate, making +at the same time a profound obeisance to each of us."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Acres, "I certainly am glad all that's done +away with; but I'm more glad that at last we have been able +to get rid altogether of the plates for collecting the offertory, +and to substitute <i>Bags</i>. There has been some opposition, as +you are aware; some pleaded long custom as a reason for retaining +the plates, and some, who were rather proud of their +stereotyped shilling, did not wish their benevolence to be hidden. +In fact all those who <i>did their alms before men, to be seen of +them</i>, were of course hostile to the change."</p> + +<p>"I know," said the Squire, "that some were at first offended, +but none knew why. I never heard the faintest approach to a +reasonable objection to this plainly scriptural manner of <i>secret</i> +almsgiving; nor did I ever hear an argument of any weight in +favour of the plate system, except that it sometimes forces +money from unwilling contributors, and that argument is too +contemptible to notice.</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 275]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a><b>CHAPTER XXVII</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE PILLARS</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of +the truth."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'>1 <span class="smcap">Tim.</span> iii. 15.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 276]</span> +<span class="i0">"See, the Church her head once more hath lifted;<br></span> +<span class="i1">Seemly order dwells within her gate;<br></span> +<span class="i0">God-sent art adorns her holy precincts,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And no more she lieth desolate.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"What is it that she is saying, brothers?<br></span> +<span class="i1">All the subtle skill of graver's hand,<br></span> +<span class="i0">All the heavenward shafts, and bended arches,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Utter speech to those that understand.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"You can hear them telling some things loudly,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Telling of ungrudging love and care;<br></span> +<span class="i0">But I catch an inner voice that pleadeth<br></span> +<span class="i1">Soft and sweet, like music in the air.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And it saith,—from every wreathèd column,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Every leafy carving, breathing low,—<br></span> +<span class="i0">'Take our message, O ye <i>living</i> temples,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Fold it in your breasts, before ye go.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'Purge the shrine of your own souls within you<br></span> +<span class="i1">From all stain of pride and sloth and sin,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Grace it with all saintly decoration:<br></span> +<span class="i1">Then your God shall come and dwell within.'"<br></span><br> +</div><div class="stanza"><span class="noter">W. W. H.<br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 277]</span> +<a name="image291" id="image291"></a> +<img src="images/illus291.jpg" width="351" height="296" alt="Church of St. John, Highbridge" title=""> +</div><br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE PILLARS</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 279]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">I</span>t was the day before the Festival of the Ascension, and +Ascension Day being not only one of the greatest +festivals of the Christian year, but being, moreover, the day on +which the people of St. Catherine's were used to commemorate +with great rejoicing the restoration of their now beautiful +temple, old Matthew and the Vicar were busily engaged assisting +those of the parishioners, old and young, who had the time +to spare and were sufficiently skilful, in decorating the church +with flowers and evergreens.</p> + +<p>"I remember, sir, when I was a boy, we used to call those +twelve pillars that the ladies are putting the flowers on, the +<i>twelve Apostles</i>," said old Matthew.</p> + +<p>"It's a common number in large churches," replied the Vicar, +"and the name for them which you remember is not an +unusual one. I remember one church where there are eleven +pillars, and the old sexton told me they stood for eleven of the +Apostles, and that there would have been twelve, but Judas was +omitted. The pillars of the church, as the chief supports of +the fabric, are said to represent the Apostles, Prophets, and +Martyrs<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a>. As I have often told you, there is hardly a part of +the church without its special meaning: 'even the smallest +details should have a meaning, or serve a purpose<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a>,' and +whatever has a meaning serves a purpose, and whatever serves +a purpose, has a meaning, and a very important one too. +The four main walls of the building have a similar meaning +to the pillars. They are supposed to represent the four +Evangelists<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a>. The stones of which they are composed represent +Christians—the living stones of the spiritual building<a name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a>;<span class="pagenum">[Pg 280] </span> +the cement which joins them together is charity, 'the bond of +perfectness<a name="FNanchor_175_175" id="FNanchor_175_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a>' which binds together the members of the +Christian Church. The door<a name="FNanchor_176_176" id="FNanchor_176_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> represents the means of entrance +to the invisible kingdom; the windows remind us of that sacred +presence which keeps out the storm of angry and sinful life, +and admits the light of Christ and His Word. You see, +Matthew, the old church builders were themselves <i>Churchmen</i>; +sometimes even bishops were famous architects, like Gundulph, +Bishop of Rochester, and William of Wykeham, Bishop of +Winchester; and then they made themselves felt in all their +works—I mean, they gave a religious character and meaning to +all parts of the structure they reared. And so there were +always a hundred preachers in the Church, though not a +tongue uttered a single word."</p> + +<p>"I understand what you mean, sir—the stones were the +preachers."</p> + +<p>"Just so, Matthew; and then the churches were always open, +and people used to go and meditate and pray there at all hours; +for in church they found themselves surrounded by so much +that reminded them of Heaven and God's presence, and sacred +things, and so little to remind them of the world and of sin, +that they could think and pray there better than any where else. +But in after times the old churches became neglected and +dilapidated, and the new churches were so mean and cold and +bare, that there was every thing to chill and nothing to warm +devotion, and so people gave up the good old custom of going +to hear the stones preach, and to say their daily prayers to God +in His sanctuary. But the time is coming back again, I am +thankful to say, and church builders are again good Churchmen, +and regard the building of churches as a sacred art and a +religious work; and the people are less contented to be ignorant +about these things; and the churches are no longer closed from +Sunday night to the next Sunday morning, as they used to be."</p> + +<p>"I haven't read my Bible right, Mr. Ambrose, if it isn't a +very wicked thing to allow God's House to go to decay. In +our old church people seemed to have forgotten all about the +'<i>beauty</i> of holiness,' both in their manner of worship and in +the house where they worshipped. They had their own houses<span class="pagenum">[Pg 281] </span> +'ceiled with cedar and painted with vermilion,' and this house +was 'laid waste<a name="FNanchor_177_177" id="FNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a>.' I have been told how grand Queen +Victoria's Palace is, and how beautiful the Parliament House +is, and I have often thought that surely, sir, the house of the +great King of kings, and the great Ruler of all our rulers +should be grand and beautiful too. But our churchwardens +not only didn't try to make the old church beautiful, sir, but +hid as much as possible of whatever beauty they found."</p> + +<p>"Too true, my friend," said the Vicar: "these old pillars +had become so coated over with whitewash that their rich +carved work could hardly be seen at all. Whitewash was the +cheapest thing they could use to hide the green damp and the +plaster patches, and for that reason I suppose they used it."</p> + +<p>The work of decoration went on rapidly; the many busy +hands soon effected a wonderful change in the appearance of +the church, which gave it a very festive character. The +choicest flowers were placed at the back of the altar, others +were used in various ecclesiastical designs, or woven into +wreaths of evergreens. The texts of Holy Scripture painted +above the arches from pillar to pillar were neatly framed in +borders of evergreens, and wreaths of the same were already +twined around many of the columns<a name="FNanchor_178_178" id="FNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a>.</p> + +<p>The capitals of all the pillars were carved in imitation of the +many wild flowers and ferns which grew in the neighbourhood<a name="FNanchor_179_179" id="FNanchor_179_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a>. +Although these had been carved not less than five hundred +years ago, the same wild flowers were still to be found in the +parish; and every year on Ascension Day it was the custom at +St. Catherine's to decorate each of these pillars with the same +natural flowers that had been imitated in stone. It was a +pretty custom, for as the natural leaves and flowers faded or +were removed, their more enduring likenesses were disclosed,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 282] </span> +and remained throughout the year the faithful representatives +of their bright and gay originals.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear," said the Vicar, addressing Ellen Walton, +his churchwarden's little daughter, "you have really shown +great taste in arranging those ferns; they look beautiful +indeed."</p> + +<p>"I deserve but little credit, sir, for any taste of my own," +she replied, "for I have but copied the stone carving as near +as I could."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but you <i>do</i> deserve great credit, as every body does +who copies exactly that which is worth copying. The workman +who so cleverly imitated in stone these beautiful works of God, +in order to adorn God's House throughout the year with +memorials of His goodness in making our summer fields so +lovely, deserved much praise; and now, though yours is a +lighter task, that you have given life, as it were, to his work, +by your nice arrangement of leaf to leaf, and flower to flower, +I must give you some praise too. But I see you are anxious +to ask me a question."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I was talking to Sally Strike this morning about +the decorations, and she says they are all nonsense and unmeaning; +she says, too, it's very wicked to put flowers about +the church, for it's nothing but a heathen and idolatrous +custom. Of course, I don't much notice what she says about +it, but I don't very well know what to answer her, and I was +going to ask you, sir, to be kind enough to tell me."</p> + +<p>"Sally Strike doesn't often say any thing very wise, my dear, +and this is no exception to the rule. You had better answer +her out of her own mouth. Ask her, when she gathered all +the flowers her own garden could produce to decorate the little +'Rehoboth'—as they call that meeting-house on Wanderer's +Heath—when they held their last 'love feast,' and had tea and +cake in their chapel, did she put the flowers there to make the +place look gloomy, or to make it look festive and gay? Or, +why did she do the same thing a little while ago, when they +gave a children's treat in their meeting-house? Was it +because it was a time of sadness or of rejoicing? No doubt, +she will tell you it was the latter. Well, we decorate our +churches for a similar reason. We regard all the Christian<span class="pagenum">[Pg 283] </span> +festivals as seasons for great gladness and rejoicing, and whilst +at other times we are obliged, for the most part, to content +ourselves with such ornamentation of God's House as our +own poor imitations of the forms and colours of Nature can +supply, on these high days we press into the service of the +temple the lovely originals of all those forms and colours, +fresh and pure as when they first left the hand of their Divine +Maker.</p> + +<p>"'Tis true that the heathen used flowers in decorating their +temples and altars, and also their victims prepared for sacrifice<a name="FNanchor_180_180" id="FNanchor_180_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a>. +But they used them just as Sally Strike uses them at her meeting-house, +for the <i>sole</i> purpose of <i>decoration</i>. Now, though we use +flowers to give a festive appearance to our churches, our use of +them has, too, always a meaning beyond that: how they remind +us of the <i>love of God</i> in arraying this earth with so much beauty +for our enjoyment; how they remind us of the pure and +lovely delights of the Paradise that is lost; and of our future +resurrection<a name="FNanchor_181_181" id="FNanchor_181_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> to a Paradise of yet greater beauty. And it is from +our Bibles that we learn to give, too, an <i>emblematic</i> meaning to +particular flowers, so that, whether carved by man, or moulded +by the hand of Nature, each one teaches its own useful lesson. +There we find the lily mentioned as the emblem of God's +providence; the rose as the type of youthful beauty; the cedar, +of manly strength. Nay, my dear Ellen, we may even find in +Holy Scripture itself our authority for decorating our churches +with these pure and unsinning works of God. You remember, +no doubt, the verse to which I allude: 'The glory of Lebanon +shall come unto thee: the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box +together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary<a name="FNanchor_182_182" id="FNanchor_182_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a>'."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir, I quite understand your explanation. But +Sally Strike said she didn't object to the way the church used +to be decorated thirty years ago, when plain twigs of evergreen +were put at the corners of the pews, and some large branches fixed +here and there on the walls; but she does not like the triangles +and circles and crosses, and the other designs we now use."</p> + +<p>"And yet nothing could be more silly than the dislike, +though I fear it is one in which many—for mere want of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 284] </span> +thought—share. Surely, the twigs themselves must be at least +as harmless when bound together as when used singly; and +certainly it is better that they should be formed into beautiful +and religiously <i>suggestive</i> designs, than scattered unmeaningly +about the church. The cross, often repeated, reminds us, you +know, of the one grand pervading truth of our religion; the +circle, of eternity; the triangle, of the Holy Trinity. We +almost even forget the beauty of the design itself in the beauty +of its symbol.</p> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 285]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a><b>CHAPTER XXVIII</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE ROOF</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the roof thereof."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Exod.</span> xxx. 3.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 286]</span> +<span class="i0">"Give all thou canst; high heaven rejects the lore<br></span> +<span class="i0">Of nicely calculated less or more:<br></span> +<span class="i0">So deem'd the man who fashion'd for the sense<br></span> +<span class="i0">These lofty pillars,—spread that branching roof,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Self-poised, and scoped into ten thousand cells,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Where light and shade repose, where music dwells<br></span> +<span class="i0">Ling'ring and wand'ring on, as loth to die,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof<br></span> +<span class="i0">That they were born for immortality."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Wordsworth.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 287]</span> +<a name="image301" id="image301"></a> +<img src="images/illus301.jpg" width="351" height="482" alt="Keynsham Church" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>THE ROOF</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 289]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"I</span>'m glad to see you both among the helpers to-day," said +the Vicar, as he shook hands with William Hardy and +Richard Atkinson, "though I know this must cost you at least +the value of a day's work."</p> + +<p>The village carpenter and mason were always accustomed on +these occasions to give their services gratuitously.</p> + +<p>"Very glad indeed to come and do the best we can, sir," +replied William Hardy, "though we couldn't quite agree about +it at home, my wife and me, till we'd talked it over a bit."</p> + +<p>Now Hardy's wife, though not generally unamiable, was +like many other wives in this respect; namely, she had +acquired a habit of always questioning the wisdom or sincerity +of her husband's actions, which she could now no more shake +off than she could her own identity.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry to hear that," said the Vicar; "but how +was it?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, sir, my wife says to me, 'William, you +might turn your time to better account than going up to the +church with Richard Atkinson to-day. You'd be able to earn +five shillings, and that would just pay for the new ribbon for +my bonnet, which indeed I do want very much.' 'I really +believe you do, my dear,' says I, 'and so I must just alter my +plans a little. I thought I wanted a new Sunday hat very +much indeed, and I was just going to buy one at Master +Dole's the other day, when thinks I to myself—no, I mustn't +buy it, because I shall lose a day's earnings at church next +week, so I'll give the new hat to the church, and have one for +myself six months hence. But that's no reason why you +should lose your ribbons, so I'll over-work for a few days, and +earn the ribbons that way.' You see, Mr. Ambrose, I was<span class="pagenum">[Pg 290] </span> +thinking of that text, 'God forbid that I should offer to the +Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing.' Well, sir, +them words softened her a good deal; but then she says to +me, 'William, what's the <i>use</i> of all them ornaments at the +church? I really do call it waste of time and money.' 'My +dear,' says I, 'there's something better than <i>use</i>, I mean as you +and I talk of use, there is such a thing as doing things out of +love and reverence for God, and for nothing else, and that's +what I should like to do if I can. There wasn't no more <i>use</i> in +the precious ointment which the good woman poured on our +Saviour's head, than in these ornaments we put up in His +church. And you know who it was that called that a <i>waste</i>, +and you know who it was too that praised her for what she +did<a name="FNanchor_183_183" id="FNanchor_183_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a>.' 'I think you're right,' says she; and so I came away."</p> + +<p>"And so you were, my friend. But it's hard to persuade +people that there is such a thing as <i>a worship of adoration</i>, +prompted simply by a sense of love, gratitude, veneration, +entirely apart from all idea of benefit, advantage, or use to +ourselves in <i>any way</i>. As you rightly say, however, <i>there is</i>.—But +I see the children have finished the frames for the +clerestory<a name="FNanchor_184_184" id="FNanchor_184_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> windows, so you had better put them up."</p> + +<p>"You mean the windows just under the roof, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; it is not safe for them to climb so high."</p> + +<p>"I suppose you won't attempt to carry your decorations +higher than that, Mr. Vicar?" said the Squire, as he approached +to see how the work was going on.</p> + +<p>"No, that must satisfy us. Indeed, this roof is so rich in +colour and carving that we could hardly make it look more +festive than it does."</p> + +<p>"It is, indeed, a grand old roof; but I rather prefer the high-pitched +roof of the chancel to this flatter one of the nave, +though certainly nothing can be more beautiful than its +carving. The figures of angels on the corbels<a name="FNanchor_185_185" id="FNanchor_185_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a> supporting the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 291] </span> +principal timbers are exceedingly well done. What do you +imagine to be the dates of these two roofs?"</p> + +<p>"I should say that that in the chancel was built about +A.D. 1350, and this in the nave about A.D. 1500. These flatter +roofs of our perpendicular period do not any of them date +much farther back than A.D. 1500<a name="FNanchor_186_186" id="FNanchor_186_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a>."</p> + +<p>"I quite agree with you in preferring the older high-pitch +for our timber roofs. By-the-bye, it is a curious conception +that this particular kind of roof has a likeness to the inverted +keel of the ark<a name="FNanchor_187_187" id="FNanchor_187_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a>—itself an emblem of the Christian Church. +But I prefer to regard it, as I do the windows, and doors, and +arches of <i>pointed</i> architecture, as an emblem of the <i>incompleteness</i> +of our worship here. As I look up through the intricate +multitude of timbers, and my gaze becomes lost amid the dark +top beams of the roof, my thoughts are insensibly led higher +still<a name="FNanchor_188_188" id="FNanchor_188_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a>. There is something in these lofty open roofs that +always seems to invite one's thoughts <i>above them</i>—so different +from the flat ceilings of most dissenting meeting-houses, and +some of our churches built a hundred years ago. To me these +flat ceilings are very depressing."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and not a little irritating too, when you consider what<span class="pagenum">[Pg 292] </span> +splendid timber roofs in old churches, they often conceal. +Ugly, however, and objectionable as they are, they have the one +merit of being <i>unpretending</i>; and give me any thing rather than +a <i>sham</i>—a lath-and-plaster roof with papier-maché or stucco +bosses, and all sorts of painting and shading in perspective, +in imitation of wood or stone, making the poor roof guilty of +a perpetual <i>lie</i>. I do own that tries my temper immensely!"</p> + +<p>"There can be no doubt, too, that the high-pitch better +suits our variable climate than any other. I fear, however, +that many of those which were built but a few years since are +not very enduring. Young, or badly-seasoned wood, thin, poor +timbers, which cannot last long, have too often been put into +the roof. Sometimes this has been the dishonest act of the +builder; but we have been too much in the habit of building +for <i>ourselves only</i>—not like our forefathers, who put up those +big masses of timber over our heads. They built for themselves +and for <i>posterity too</i>.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'They dreamt not of a perishable home,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Who thus could build<a name="FNanchor_189_189" id="FNanchor_189_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a>.'"<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Ah, yes! and that is, of course, especially true of those +who erected the noble <i>stone</i> roofs of our cathedrals, and many +parish churches too. Nothing, of course, can equal the stone +roof with its beautiful carvings and mouldings, richly gilt and +coloured. Nothing like stone for colour! How very beautiful +is the deep blue, with its golden stars, over the altar in our own +cathedral! They look well in our own church, but the colours +are richer there, not so much faded. That representation of +Heaven's canopy mantling over the most holy part of our +church always seems to me so very appropriate and suggestive."</p> + +<p>"It is a matter of surprise to me," said the Squire, "that +more care has not generally been taken to beautify the <i>external</i> +part of our church roofs. What relief is given to the long line +of a nave roof by a good patterned row of ridge tiles, or by +some ornamental ironwork on the ridge! The gable cross<span class="pagenum">[Pg 293] </span> +considerably relieves the chancel roof. And where the roof is +of stone, why don't we have richly-carved <i>external</i>, as well as +internal, stone-work? That, to my mind, is the perfection of a +stone roof<a name="FNanchor_190_190" id="FNanchor_190_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a>."</p> + +<p>At this point, the attention of both was directed to little +Harry, old Matthew's grandson, who, with a fixed expression of +deep thoughtfulness, was looking up to wards the roof of the +church.</p> + +<p>"Why so very serious just now, my dear boy? What may +your thoughts be about, Harry?" said the Vicar.</p> + +<p>"Please, sir, I was wondering what they used to do with +the roof-gallery, where we've been putting the evergreens?"</p> + +<p>"What does he mean by the roof-gallery?" said Mr. Acres.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he means the triforium<a name="FNanchor_191_191" id="FNanchor_191_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a>."</p> + +<p>"I must confess that is still more unintelligible to me. +Please explain it to me, as well as to Harry, for we are evidently +equally ignorant about it."</p> + +<p>"The triforium is the gallery you see just above the arches +of the nave—between them and the clerestory. It is not commonly +found in parish churches, but I believe all cathedrals +have it. It generally extends nearly all round the building. +There are different opinions as to its original purpose. Some +suppose that it was reserved for the use of women. On the +Continent, it has been set apart for young men, or for strangers. +It is the opinion of some that it was merely built for affording +ready access to the various parts of the roof. As an architectural +feature, it is very effective, and occupies a space which would +otherwise be a blank wall. In this country, however, we know +that it was often used for a similar purpose to that for which +we have now been using it—the ornamentation of the church +on special festivals, when banners and tapestry and other +ornaments were suspended from the several arches<a name="FNanchor_192_192" id="FNanchor_192_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a>."</p> + +<p>"I have often, like little Harry, looked up at those arches +and wondered what they were built for; and, not knowing, I +came to the conclusion that the passage must have been used +for religious processions."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 294] </span></p> + +<p>"It is not at all improbable that occasionally they were so +used. And I can hardly imagine any thing more solemn than +a torch-light procession of chanting choristers threading their +way round the sacred building, the sound of their voices undulating +in solemn cadence as they would pass the arches of the +triforium, and then dying away amid the groined or timber roof +above them."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"> +<a name="image308" id="image308"></a> +<img src="images/illus308.jpg" width="351" height="292" alt="Clerestory Window" title=""> +</div><br> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 295]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a><b>CHAPTER XXIX</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE TOWER</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"The house that is to be builded for the Lord must be +exceeding magnifical."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'>1 <span class="smcap">Chron.</span> xxii. 5.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 296]</span> +<span class="i0">"Lift it gently to the steeple,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Let our bell be set on high;<br></span> +<span class="i0">There fulfil its daily mission,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Midway 'twixt the earth and sky.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"As the birds sing early matins<br></span> +<span class="i1">To the God of nature's praise,<br></span> +<span class="i0">This its nobler daily music<br></span> +<span class="i1">To the God of grace shall raise.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And when evening shadows soften<br></span> +<span class="i1">Chancel-cross, and tower, and aisle,<br></span> +<span class="i0">It shall blend its vesper summons<br></span> +<span class="i1">With the day's departing smile.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Year by year the steeple-music<br></span> +<span class="i1">O'er the tended graves shall pour<br></span> +<span class="i0">Where the dust of saints is garner'd,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Till the Master comes once more."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">J. M. Neale.</span><br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 297]</span> +<a name="image311" id="image311"></a> +<img src="images/illus311.jpg" width="351" height="522" alt="Meopham Church" title=""> +</div><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 299]</span> +<h2>THE TOWER</h2> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">W</span>hen the Vicar and the Squire met on their way to +church the following day, the conversation of the +previous evening was thus resumed:—</p> + +<p>"You will, I am sure, agree with me," said Mr. Ambrose, "in +regarding the church spire as ever teaching <i>outside</i> the building +the same lesson that the open timber roof, as you so truly said +yesterday, is teaching <i>inside</i>. It is always pointing the thoughts +of thoughtful men up above the earthly temple."</p> + +<p>"Quite so; and, as is the case with many other great +teachers, the earthly fabric has, I believe, in both these cases, a +very humble origin; for as the grandest cathedral roof is but a +development of the simple <i>tent</i> which formed the early habitation +of the once rude inhabitants of this and other countries, +so has its lofty and elegant spire gradually raised itself from the +low and unpretending roof which covered in the towers of our +earliest parish churches.</p> + +<p>"I am inclined myself to think that, as a matter of taste +and beauty, no church tower is complete without a spire in +some form<a name="FNanchor_193_193" id="FNanchor_193_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a>, and it is a question whether, in every case, the +tower was not at first built with a view to such an ornament. +The termination with a flat or only embattled cornice does +not harmonize well with pointed architecture; the spiral form +seems to me the only appropriate termination; and, as you +say, the symbolic teaching of this part of the building depends +upon it. And yet, though it may almost seem a contradiction +to what I have said, the spire always needs some object for the +eye to rest upon at its summit. The time-honoured <i>weather-cock</i><span class="pagenum">[Pg 300] </span> +which every body knows to be the emblem of <i>watchfulness</i>, +seems by far the most convenient and suitable, though I +am aware that other forms—such as a dragon, and a boat—are +fixed to the summits of some spires."</p> + +<p>"We do not generally succeed well," said Mr. Ambrose, "in +our imitations of the Norman style of architecture. Its extreme +massiveness, on which so much of its beauty depends, renders +it very costly; and if this is abandoned, as it often is, for the +sake of saving expense, and only the details of the style are +copied, whilst the walls are thin and unsubstantial, the building +has always a mean and cardboard appearance. But where the +style is faithfully carried out, it is a matter of surprise to me +that the <i>round</i> tower is not more often adopted. It harmonizes +so well with the semi-circular arches and the apsidal +termination of the chancel. We have, you know, many +splendid examples of such towers<a name="FNanchor_194_194" id="FNanchor_194_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a>. It is true, indeed, that the +architects may in some cases have adopted this form, in places +where there was difficulty in obtaining the stone required for +the corners of a square tower, as being the most convenient +for a building composed of flint only; but that they did not +always choose this form as a mere matter of convenience, and +not for its own peculiar beauty, is evident from the fact that in +the construction of some round towers not only flint, but also +stone, is largely employed. The objection to these towers, +founded on the supposition that they are not adapted for the +use of bells, may, I think, be easily met by a little constructional +arrangement of the interior of the belfry."</p> + +<p>"The erection of towers <i>detached</i> from the church has not, I +am glad to say, gained much favour in this country<a name="FNanchor_195_195" id="FNanchor_195_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a>. They +certainly lose much of their beauty when separated from the +main building. The custom, however, greatly prevails in +Italy. The appropriation of a portion of the tower as a priest's +chamber is, I believe, far more common with us than it is +abroad<a name="FNanchor_196_196" id="FNanchor_196_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a>."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 301] </span></p> + +<p>At this moment the bells of St. Catherine's commenced a +cheerful peal.</p> + +<p>"After all," said the Vicar, "<i>that sound</i> indicates the real +purpose of the tower."</p> + +<p>"True enough," answered Mr. Acres; "no doubt our towers +were built to hold the <i>bells</i><a name="FNanchor_197_197" id="FNanchor_197_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a>; and so, if the tower is good and +sound, and the bells are there, we must not complain if the +spire is wanting."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but I wish the bells were under better control than +they commonly are."</p> + +<p>"Ah, so indeed do I. There's no part of the church so +much desecrated as the tower. Now, I grieve for this; for to +my mind there's no music so delightful as that of the church +bells, provided there is nothing in the occasion of their being +rung which grates upon one's feelings. I often think of the +story of a savage people who had never seen a church bell +before, when for the first time they heard it ringing, they +believed that it was <i>talking</i> to them<a name="FNanchor_198_198" id="FNanchor_198_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a>. There is certainly no +music that <i>speaks</i> to us like that of the church bells. What +call is there more eloquent than the chimes 'going for +church'? What voice more reproachful than theirs to one who +disobeys their summons? What sound so solemn as the deep-toned +knell? What so happy as the marriage peal? Ah, my<span class="pagenum">[Pg 302] </span> +dear friend, you and I know full well what joys and sorrows, +what hopes and fears, the dear old church bells can tell of. +How the old memories of half-forgotten home-scenes come +back to us when we listen to their merry Christmas ringing! +Nothing like them to fill the arm-chairs that have so long stood +empty, to tenant the old places with the once familiar forms +which have long gone from us! Nothing like them to bring back +the dear old voices and the dear old faces; nothing like them +to put back the old furniture in its old places again; nothing +like them to revive the bright and happy hours that are past! +Then, somehow, the bells always seem to adapt their voices to +each particular season. What joyful hope there was in their +music at Easter! a still gladder song they sing to-day. They +seem to me to have their own peculiar utterance for Sunday and +for saints' day, for fast and for festival. What a joyful song of +thanksgiving they sang at our harvest festival last year! I shall +never forget what the bells said to me on that day.</p> + +<p>"You must forgive me, my dear Vicar, for intruding this +long rhapsody into our conversation, my fondness for the +music of church bells is so intense, that I fear you will consider +the expression of my admiration to be quite childish. I +don't mean to say they always make me feel cheerful and +happy. Oh, no, they don't do that; but most commonly they +induce a sort of pleasant melancholy—harmless, and even good +in moderation, but morbid in excess. These simple lines +exactly express what I often feel when the bells are ringing:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"When twilight steals along the ground,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And all the bells are ringing round,<br></span> +<span class="i1">One, two, three, four, and five;<br></span> +<span class="i0">I at my study window sit,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And, wrapt in many a musing fit,<br></span> +<span class="i1">To bliss am all alive.<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"But though impressions calm and sweet<br></span> +<span class="i0">Thrill round my heart a holy heat,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And I am inly glad,<br></span> +<span class="i0">A tear-drop stands in either eye,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And yet, I cannot tell thee why,<br></span> +<span class="i1"><i>I'm pleased, and yet I'm sad</i><a name="FNanchor_199_199" id="FNanchor_199_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a>."<br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 303]</span> +<a name="image317" id="image317"></a> +<img src="images/illus317.jpg" width="300" height="561" alt="Tower, Saragosa" title=""> +</div><br> + +<p>"I know the feeling well," said Mr. Ambrose; "we love the +<i>silent eloquence</i> of each feature of the church's fabric as we love<span class="pagenum">[Pg 305]</span> +the vivid expression of each feature of a dear friend, and we +love—as we love his familiar voice—the well-known <i>uttered +language</i> of the old church tower."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and not more discordant would be the merry voice of +a friend, with a heart bowed down with sorrow, than seems to +me a merry peal of the church bells, with the penitential +seasons of the Christian year. I greatly admire your custom +of only ringing three bells during Lent and Advent, and tolling +a single bell on Good Friday. The contrast to the usual +joyful chimes cannot fail to strike every one."</p> + +<p>"I am most thankful that in our parish we have a set of +bellringers who really feel a proper interest in the work, and +regard theirs as a <i>religious</i> office. I have only allowed men of +well-known steady habits and good moral character to be among +them. From the time I came here, as you know, I have been +their president, and have always attended their annual dinners. +Then their <i>rules</i><a name="FNanchor_200_200" id="FNanchor_200_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a> are good. No drinking is allowed in the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 306] </span> +belfry, no one is allowed to wear his hat there, and no loud +and boisterous language is permitted: any one using offensive +words or swearing is at once expelled. In fact, I think we do +all that can be done to teach the ringers that they are engaged +in a religious duty, in a part of <i>God's house</i>. I am fully sensible +that much of our success is due to your influence among +them, and I very much wish that more Church laymen in your +position would follow your example, and take part in the +<i>actual ringing</i> of the church bells<a name="FNanchor_201_201" id="FNanchor_201_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a>. On one occasion, long ago, +I had some difficulty with our ringers. You remember old Sir +Perrygal Biber? a greater profligate or drunkard perhaps never +lived. He had wit enough, however, to secure his election for +the county, and money enough to reward those who voted for +him. I am sorry to say that in many parishes the church bells, +which had once been solemnly dedicated to God's service, were +impressed to do honour to that man, whose immorality was +patent to the whole county. Our ringers naturally thought that +what was not wrong elsewhere would not be wrong here, and +so begged permission to follow the example of their neighbours. +However, they were good fellows, and open to reason. +I explained to them first that our church bells had nothing +whatever to do with mere secular matters, such as the election +of a member of Parliament; and then I showed them that +their neighbours were specially wrong in this instance, because<span class="pagenum">[Pg 307] </span> +they were employing what was intended for God's service in +doing honour to an impious man. I believe they were all of +them, at heart, glad to get out of it; and, in fact, would never +have thought of ringing at all had not William Strike put it +into their heads. Since then they have not caused me a +moment's trouble.</p> + +<p>"The church bells have, alas! often been sadly ill-used; +sometimes broken up and employed for secular purposes<a name="FNanchor_202_202" id="FNanchor_202_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a>; +sometimes sold to pay the cost of repairing the building: but +this, to my mind, is not half so bad as their desecration when +rung on improper occasions."</p> + +<p>"No doubt, Mr. Vicar, you have often read with interest the +very quaint legends which are to be found on many church +bells. I very much like the terse Latin sentences, and the oft-repeated +'<i>Jesu, miserere mei</i>,' we meet with on the oldest of +them. Not a few, too, of the more modern bells have simple +pious inscriptions<a name="FNanchor_203_203" id="FNanchor_203_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a>. But there are some, both ancient and +modern, that have foolish or otherwise objectionable sentences +upon them<a name="FNanchor_204_204" id="FNanchor_204_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a>. In some cases they are merely laudatory of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 308] </span> +the donor; in others of the founder, or of the churchwardens +of the parish. I should think, however, that there is scarcely +a peal of bells in the country, except, perhaps, a few very recently +cast, but possesses some both interesting and instructive +inscriptions. Of course, many volumes would be filled with +them, could they be all collected. I once copied one of these +legends which much pleased me, but I cannot now call to +mind where I found it. Let me repeat it to you.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Men's death I tell by doleful knell,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Lightning and thunder I break asunder,<br></span> +<span class="i0">On Sabbath all to church I call,<br></span> +<span class="i0">The sleepy head I raise from bed,<br></span> +<span class="i0">The winds so fierce I do disperse,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Men's cruel rage I do assuage.'"<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"It was a curious conceit, which I suppose every body once +accepted, that the ringing of the church bells cleared the air of +all evil and discordant spirits, and caused the storm and the +tempest to cease. But the Church had another and a better +reason for ordering the bells to be rung at such times; and +that was, 'that the faithful might be admonished to be urgent +in prayer for the instant danger<a name="FNanchor_205_205" id="FNanchor_205_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a>.' I like the idea of the +Church bell inviting to <i>private prayer</i> as well as public +worship, but we have almost lost it. The <i>passing bell</i> used to +ask the private prayers of the faithful in behalf of the spirit +passing from earth. This was truly a Christian custom; nevertheless, +I see difficulties in the way of its general revival."</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> have not, however, lost sight, my dear friend, of the +invitation to <i>private</i> devotion as associated with church bells; +for it is in this light I regard the ringing of the little sancte +bell just before the consecration of the elements at the celebration<span class="pagenum">[Pg 309] </span> +of Holy Communion. I was very glad when you +restored the old bell to its little turret over the chancel arch; +and I know that when it is rung, many who cannot come to +church bend their knees and join heartily with us in our +prayers and adoration."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is a good old practice of the early Church, and I +am very glad to know that its revival has been a blessing and +a comfort to many by awakening solemn thought and earnest +prayer."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 249px;"> +<a name="image323" id="image323"></a> +<img src="images/illus323.jpg" width="249" height="359" alt="Window, Church of St. Petronius, Bologna" title=""> +</div> + +<blockquote class='bbox'><span class="pagenum">[Pg 311]</span> +<p class='larger center'><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a><b>CHAPTER XXX</b></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;"> +<p class='larger center'>THE HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS</p> + +<p class='larger center'><b>"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual +house."</b></p> + +<p class='smaller center'>1 <span class="smcap">Pet.</span> ii. 5.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 312]</span> +<span class="i0">"One sweetly solemn thought<br></span> +<span class="i1">Comes to me o'er and o'er,—<br></span> +<span class="i0">I'm nearer home to-day<br></span> +<span class="i1">Than I have been before;<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Nearer my Father's House,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Where the many mansions be,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Nearer the great white Throne,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Nearer the jasper sea;<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Nearer the bound of life,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Where we lay our burdens down,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Nearer leaving the Cross,<br></span> +<span class="i1">Nearer gaining the Crown."<br></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="noter"><span class="smcap">Carey</span><br></span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 313] </span></div></div> + + +<h2>THE HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 313]</span> + + +<p><SPAN class="dropcap">"I</span> must just go up for a minute to see poor Matthew. I +hear he is not quite so well," said the Vicar, as he +parted from his companion, and entered the little door that +led up to the old sexton's chamber.</p> + +<p>"My dear friend," said the Vicar, taking the old man's +trembling hand, "I see you are still very weak; but I trust +you are not suffering much?"</p> + +<p>"Weak, very, sir; but, thank God, no pain. I feel, however, +that the end can't be very far off. You must look out +for another sexton, sir, for old Matthew's work is nearly over."</p> + +<p>"<i>His</i> will be done," said the Vicar; and the old man +breathed a solemn "Amen," which seemed spoken for no +earthly ears.</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking," at length said Matthew, "that it's +ten years since you and I, sir, and Mr. Acres, met at the old +lych gate in that terrible storm. I remember I said then that +it wouldn't be long before some younger ones would have to +carry me through the gate, but God has spared me these ten +years more, and now I shall need none to bear me through +the gate; for here I am—thanks to your kindness, sir—already +within the gate, and even within the House of God itself."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and so when God calls you to Himself, He will but +take you from one temple to another—from the courts of His +House here, to live for ever in His heavenly mansions. +'Those that be planted in the House of the Lord shall flourish +in the courts of our God<a name="FNanchor_206_206" id="FNanchor_206_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a>.'"</p> + +<p>"If you please, sir, I should like to be buried beside little +Lizzie Daniels. 'Tis long ago now since I made that little grave, +and I fear the flower-bed is a good deal overgrown with grass,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 314]</span> +for I have been too poorly to look after it as I used to; but I +think you'll know it, sir. She helped in her own quiet, simple +way to teach an old man the way to Heaven; and I have never +forgotten her lessons. How often she used to talk about this +day—Ascension Day! She once said to me, sir, that you had +told her we ought to remember this day throughout the year, +and to try and lead an <i>Ascension</i> life, and let our thoughts and +desires dwell as much as possible where our Saviour has gone +before. I have tried to do so—God forgive me, for I have +often failed!"</p> + +<p>He then drew the Vicar nearer to him, and whispered in his +ear, "Be good to dear little Harry, sir, when I'm gone. He +loves me so, I fear 'twill break his heart."</p> + +<p>The "parson's bell," as it was called, was now ringing, so +the Vicar, having promised that his wishes should be fully +carried out, was compelled to hasten into the church. He +first laid his hand on the noble brow of the good old man, +and pronounced the blessing of Heaven upon him, and then +bade him farewell, adding, "I hope, my dear friend, we may +be permitted to meet again in this earthly house of God; but +if not, my heart-deep hope and prayer is, that we may meet in +His house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens<a name="FNanchor_207_207" id="FNanchor_207_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a>."</p> + +<p>The little window that looked into the church from the +sexton's chamber was opened, and none listened more earnestly +to the festive service, and to the Vicar's sermon, on that +Ascension Day than did old Matthew Hutchinson.</p> + +<p>Although it was a common practice with the Vicar on +festivals not to preach from any particular passage of Holy +Scripture, but simply to make the festival itself the subject of his +discourse, yet on this occasion he selected these words as his +text: "The patterns of things in the heavens<a name="FNanchor_208_208" id="FNanchor_208_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a>." He showed +how that all this world of ours, in which so much that is beautiful +and lovely has survived the fall, is full of patterns, or +symbols, or types of things in that Heaven to which Christ has +ascended; how that the whole Bible abounds with the most +vivid symbolism and the most graphic imagery representative +of the glories of that Heavenly kingdom; and then, looking +round the beautiful church, now so richly adorned with its<span class="pagenum">[Pg 315]</span> +festive decorations, he explained how the earthly building, in its +several parts, possessed a thousand patterns of those heavenly +things which make up the spiritual fabric of the Church of Christ. +"When we regard the material fabric of the Christian Church," +he said, "as a type of the spiritual house, ever rising higher and +higher in honour of its Divine Founder, of which the saints on +earth and the saints in Heaven are the living stones, we are +arraying the noblest work of man with its grandest and most +exalted dignity. 'Ye are built upon the <i>foundations</i> of the +Apostles and Prophets,' writes St. Paul to the Church of +Ephesus, 'Jesus Christ Himself being the chief <i>corner stone</i>; in +whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an +holy <i>temple</i> in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together +for an habitation of God through the Spirit<a name="FNanchor_209_209" id="FNanchor_209_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a>.' Here, in the +symbol of the <i>foundation stones</i> of the material structure, we have +represented to us, as it were, at one view, all those heavenly +graces and blessings which from the day of Pentecost down to +this time have flowed to God's people through the visible +ministry and appointed ordinances of the Christian Church. +Then, under the figure of the <i>corner stone</i>—the key stone of the +edifice—we have gathered up all those old prophecies and types +which pointed on forward, through the sufferings and death of +the Saviour, up to the time when, having established His +Church in the world, He should be Himself the heavenly life +of its living members. Long had it been 'contained in the +Scriptures: Behold, I lay in Zion a chief <i>corner stone</i>, elect, +precious; and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded<a name="FNanchor_210_210" id="FNanchor_210_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a>,' +and in the fulness of time 'the stone which the +builders refused became the <i>head stone of the corner</i><a name="FNanchor_211_211" id="FNanchor_211_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a>.'</p> + +<p>"And next see, my friends, how the figure is carried out +by the two Apostles, St. Paul and St. Peter, so as to embrace +all the faithful members of Christ's Church. They are represented +by St. Paul as 'the whole <i>building fitly framed together</i><a name="FNanchor_212_212" id="FNanchor_212_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a>,' +and by St. Peter, as the living stones which compose this living +temple—'Ye also as <i>lively stones</i> are built up a <i>spiritual +house</i><a name="FNanchor_213_213" id="FNanchor_213_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a>.' And this figure of a living temple is thus constantly<span class="pagenum">[Pg 316] </span> +employed by the sacred writers: 'Know ye not that your +bodies are the <i>Temple of God</i>?' writes St. Paul to the Corinthian +Church; and, again, 'Ye are the <i>Temple of the living God</i><a name="FNanchor_214_214" id="FNanchor_214_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a>.' +St. Jude is following out the same idea when he exhorts +Christians to <i>build up themselves in their most holy faith</i>."</p> + +<p>The Vicar ended his sermon with an earnest, practical +application of the subject. "Let me entreat you, my dear +friends, often to suffer the solemn thoughts which this sacred +symbol suggests to dwell on your minds: '<i>The temple of the +Lord</i> is holy, which temple <i>ye are</i>.' Holy Prophets and Holy +Apostles, and confessors, and martyrs, are the foundation of +the sacred building; the Holy Jesus is the corner stone, in +whom ye—the living stones—must be <i>fitly framed together</i>. +Mark, my friends, there must be <i>no schism, no division, no rent +or fissure</i>, that ye may be a spiritual house perfect in all its +parts, and pure in all its adornments. Oh, then, cherish that +heavenly life within you, which alone can keep the building +compact and firm! Be fruitful in good works. Remember +faith without works is not living, but <i>dead</i><a name="FNanchor_215_215" id="FNanchor_215_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a>. 'Put on charity, +which is the <i>bond of perfectness</i><a name="FNanchor_216_216" id="FNanchor_216_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a>,' and will be the best evidence +to God and man, and to your own souls, that you possess a +living faith; that you are, indeed, <i>living stones in a living temple</i>. +Be sure the cement that must unite the living stones of the +spiritual house is brotherly love and fervent charity. Without +these, the house will be divided against itself; its walls will be +'daubed with untempered mortar<a name="FNanchor_217_217" id="FNanchor_217_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a>,' and, instead of living +stones, there will be but the dead, outlying blocks of a ruined +house. 'Except the Lord build the house, their labour is but +lost that build it<a name="FNanchor_218_218" id="FNanchor_218_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a>.'</p> + +<p>"Be it yours, then, 'by patient continuance in <i>well doing</i>, to +seek for glory and immortality<a name="FNanchor_219_219" id="FNanchor_219_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a>' in that 'house eternal in the +heavens, whose Builder and Maker is God.' Learn to see in +the whole earth, and air, and sky—with their countless beauties +and wondrous harmonies—reflections of the glories of Heaven, +and promises of the coming bliss of eternity. Learn to read +lessons of wisdom and religion from the many instructive<span class="pagenum">[Pg 317] </span> +patterns, and symbols, and emblems in nature, and in art, +with which you are ever surrounded. Thus go on, day by day, +advancing nearer to your mansion in Heaven. Thus, in these +earthly temples of Jehovah, be ever purifying your hearts, and +attuning your voices to share in that glorious song of the Lamb +when the sweet music of angels' harps shall vibrate on this +regenerate earth, when her ten thousand choirs shall join with +theirs in joyful harmony—and melt their united praises in one +never-ending rapture, singing, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God +Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come;' 'Blessing and +honour, and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the +Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever<a name="FNanchor_220_220" id="FNanchor_220_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a>.'"</p> + +<p>In the prayer for the Church militant, which followed the +sermon, the Vicar paused longer than usual when he prayed +God to <i>succour and comfort those who were in sickness</i>. All knew +that he was inviting a special prayer for the old man whom all +the village loved; and had they been offered for the proudest +potentate, the most learned philosopher, or even the greatest +philanthropist that ever lived, the prayers that went up to +Heaven amid that solemn silence for him "for whom the prayers +of the Church were desired," could not have been more fervid +and sincere. When Mr. Ambrose proceeded with the prayer, +a slight stir in the porch chamber was heard by those near at +hand, but it was little noticed.</p> + +<p>At the conclusion of the service Mr. Acres met the Vicar in +the vestry.</p> + +<p>"I should like," said he, "to go with you to see our poor +old friend once more."</p> + +<p>"It will probably be the last time," replied the Vicar, "for +he was evidently sinking when I saw him before service. I +told little Harry to go up to him as soon as we had sung the +last hymn."</p> + +<p>Both went up together. The Vicar was not mistaken. +Calm and peaceful, without a line of care or pain, there lay +the placid face, and the eyes were closed in the last, long +sleep. One hand lay motionless upon the bed, grasped by his +little grandson, who was kneeling beside him, still robed in the +snow-white surplice with which he had recently left the choir.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 318] </span></p> + +<p>"Poor little fellow!" said the Vicar; "I will keep my +promise to the old man. He shall not be left without a +friend, though his best is gone."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Acres saw that the little hands were white as the +aged hand they clasped.</p> + +<p>"He's with a better Friend now, my dear Vicar," said he, +"than this earth can give him. We shall hear his sweet voice +no more in our choir here; he has gone to join the choir of +angels in a nobler temple than ours."</p> + +<p>Old Matthew's words were true; the loving little heart was +broken. The old oak had fallen, and crushed the tender +sapling as it fell<a name="FNanchor_221_221" id="FNanchor_221_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a>. On the morning of Trinity Sunday, there +stood under the old yew-tree of St. Catherine's churchyard, +three little stone crosses side-by-side, where but one had been +before.</p> + +<p class='larger center'>THE END</p> + +<p class='smaller center'>GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, LONDON.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>Footnotes</h2> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> In some parts of Devonshire and Cornwall, Lich-Gates are called +"Trim-Trams." The origin of this word is not easy to determine; it is +probably only a nickname.</p></div> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Anglo-Saxon, <i>lic</i>,—a dead body. In Germany the word <i>leiche</i> has +doubtless the same original; it is still used to signify a corpse or funeral. +The German <i>leichengang</i> has precisely the same meaning as our <i>Lich-Gate</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> It is stated in <i>Britton's Antiquities</i> that there was formerly a Lych-Gate +in a lane called Lych-lane in Gloucester, where the body of Edward II. +rested on its way to burial in the Cathedral.</p></div> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> A Lyke-wake dirge:— + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"This ae nighte, this ae nighte,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Every nighte and alle;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Fire and sleete, and candle lighte,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And Christe receive theye saule."<br></span> +<br> +<span class="i5">(Scott's "<i>Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border</i>.")<br></span> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> On the Lich-Gate at Bray, Berks, is the date 1448; but there are very +few examples so early.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The following are among the most interesting of the ancient Lich-Gates +still remaining:—Beckenham, Lincolnshire; Berry-Harbor, Devonshire; +Birstal, York; Bromsgrove, Worcestershire; Burnside, Westmoreland; +Compton, Berkshire; Garsington, Oxon; Tawstock, Devonshire; West +Wickham, Kent; and Worth, Sussex. The construction of the gate at +Burnside is very curious, and Tawstock Lich-Gate possesses peculiar +features of interest, which are noticed in the next Chapter. One of the +finest Lich-Gates was at Arundel, in Surrey, but it has been removed, and is +now the Church Porch.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> St. John xi. 25. The first words of the Burial Office, said by the Priest +at the entrance to the Churchyard.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> A very interesting paper on Lich-Gates, in the "Clerical Journal," +affords much information on this subject. Over the gate at Bray are +"two chambers, connected with an ancient charitable bequest."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> This chamber was formerly called the Chapel of the Holy Rood.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The custom of distributing "cakes and ale" at the churchyard on the +occasion of funerals in Scotland, has been but very recently given up. Dean +Ramsey, in his interesting "anecdotes," has informed us that at the burial +of the Chief of a clan, many thousands would sometimes assemble, and not +unfrequently the funeral would end in a disgraceful riot.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> In Cornwall the now common practice of placing a wreath of white +flowers on the coffin is a very ancient and still prevailing usage.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Consecrated Bishop of Exeter A.D. 1598.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> These crosses were erected at the following places:—Lincoln, Northampton, +Dunstable, St. Alban's, Waltham, Stratford, Cheapside, Blackfriars, +and Charing; those at Waltham and Northampton alone remain. +The statue of King Charles now stands where the Charing ("Chère Reine") +Cross formerly stood.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> In a churchyard in Oxfordshire, a large altar-tomb, surrounded by iron +railings, occupying a space of ground in which at least thirty persons might +be buried, covers the grave of an infant of three months. +</p><p> +The erection of these masses of stone without restraint would make +our churchyards only the burial-places of the rich, and would soon entirely +exclude the poor from a place in them; whereas the poor have an equal +claim with the rich to be buried there, and when buried, the same title to +respect and protection.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> The urns which are placed upon so many tombs in our cemeteries and +churchyards, unless they have reference to the heathen custom of burning +the dead, and placing the ashes in funeral urns, can have no meaning at all. +We moreover not unfrequently see a gilded flame issuing from these urns, +and here of course the reference is most clearly marked. The Christian +custom of burying the dead, which we practise in imitation of the entombment +of Christ, dates from the earliest history of man; and as well from the +Old as the New Testament we learn that it has ever been followed by those +who professed to obey the Divine will. The first grave of which we have +any account was the grave of Sarah, Abraham's wife (Gen. xxiii. 19), and +the first grave-stone was that over the burial-place of Rachel, Jacob's wife +(Gen. xlix. 31).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> There are comparatively but few churchyard grave-stones more than +250 years old, and probably there are very few of an earlier date but have +engraved upon them the sign of the Cross. There are two very ancient +grave-stones of this character, having also heads carved upon them, in the +churchyard of Silchester. It is likely that the old churchyard crosses were +often mortuary memorials. Probably there is hardly an old churchyard +but has, at some time, been adorned with its churchyard cross; in most +cases, some remains of this most appropriate and beautiful ornament still +exist, and doubtless is often older than the churchyard as a place of Christian +burial. In many places this cross has been lately restored to its proper +place, near to the Lich-Gate. "Let a handsome churchyard cross be erected +in every churchyard."—Institutions of the Bishop of Winchester, A.D. 1229.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The interesting custom of placing natural flowers and wreaths upon +graves, is in every respect preferable to that which we see practised in +Continental burial-grounds, where the graves are often covered with +immortelles, vases of gaudy artificial flowers, images, &c. We have seen +as many as fifty wreaths of artificial flowers and tinselled paper, in every +stage of decomposition, over one grave in the cemetery of Père la Chaise, +in Paris. In Wales it is a more general practice than in England, to adorn +the graves with fresh flowers on Easter Day.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> This story is true of a parish in Monmouthshire.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> It is comparatively seldom that any other than the funerals of the <i>poor</i> +take place on Sunday, and the reason commonly assigned is—that it is the +only day on which their friends can attend. In one, at least, of the large +metropolitan cemeteries, exclusively used as a burial-place for the <i>rich</i>, no +funerals <i>ever</i> take place on a Sunday.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Let us hope that the time is near when this objectionable and unsightly +appendage will be banished from our funeral processions. The late Mr. +Charles Dickens, in his will, forbad the wearing of hat-bands at his funeral.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> "In several parts of the north of England, when a funeral takes place, +a basin full of sprigs of boxwood is placed at the door of the house from +which the coffin is taken up, and each person who attends the funeral +ordinarily takes a sprig of the boxwood and throws it into the grave of the +deceased."—<i>Wordsworth</i> (<i>Notes, Excursion</i>, p. 87).</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Great care was taken by the medieval architects to make the porches +of their churches as beautiful as possible. During some periods, especially +the Norman, they seem to have bestowed more labour upon them than upon +any other portion of the building. Both externally and internally they were +richly decorated, and often abounded in emblematic tracery.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> "The custom formerly was for the couple, who were to enter upon this +holy state, to be placed at the <i>church door</i>, where the priest was used to join +their hands, and perform the greater part of the matrimonial office. It was +here the husband endowed his wife with the dowry before contracted for."—<i>Wheatley.</i> +In a few church porches there are, or have been, galleries, which seem to have been intended to accommodate a choir for these and +other festive occasions.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> "The porch of the church was anciently used for the performance of +several religious ceremonies appertaining to Baptism, Matrimony, and the +solemn commemoration of Christ's Passion in Holy Week," &c.—<i>Brandon's +Gothic Architecture.</i> The Office for the Churching of Women also used to +be said at the church porch.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> As our Commination Service declares, persons who stood convicted of +notorious sins were formerly put to open penance. The punishment frequently +inflicted was—that they should stand at the church door, clothed in +a white sheet, and holding a candle in each hand, during the assembling and +departure of the congregation on a Sunday morning. The old parish clerk +of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, remembers, when a boy, seeing a Jew +perform this penance in Walton church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> "Formerly persons used to assemble in the church porch for civil +purposes."—<i>Brandon.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> "At a very early period, persons of rank or of eminent piety were +allowed to be buried in the porch. Subsequently, interments were permitted +within the church, but by the Canons of King Edgar it was ordered +that this privilege should be granted to none but good and religious men."—<i>Parker's Glossary.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> The parvise is to be found over church porches in all parts of England. +It is more common in early English than in Norman architecture, and very +frequently to be found in churches of the Decorated and Perpendicular +periods. Probably the largest parvise in England is at Bishop's-Cleeve, +near Cheltenham. There are interesting specimens at Bridport, Bishop's +Auckland, Ampthill, Finedon, Cirencester, Grantham, Martley, Fotheringay, +Sherborne, St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, Stanwick, Outwell, and St. Peter's-in-the-East, +Oxford. In a few instances there are two parvises, one over +the north and one over the south porch, as at Wellingborough. In some +cases, as at Martley, Worcestershire, the upper moulding of the original +Norman doorway has been concealed by the parvise of later architecture.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> "The name was formerly given to a favourite apartment, as at Leckingfield, +Yorkshire. 'A little studying chamber, caullid paradise.' (Leland's +Itinerary.)"—<i>Glossary of Architecture.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The room may have been the residence of one or more of the ordinary +priests of the church, or perhaps only a <i>study</i> for them (see previous note), +or it may have been occupied by an anchorite or hermit, or by a chantry +priest. Rooms for these several purposes are also not unfrequently to be +found over the vestry, as at Cropredy, near Banbury, and at Staindrop, +Durham.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Fire-places are of frequent occurrence in these chambers; many of them +are coeval with the porch, but others appear to have been erected at a later +date.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> At Hawkhurst, Kent, the porch-chamber is called <i>the treasury</i>. At +St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, the room over the grand north porch, in which +are the remains of the chests in which Chatterton professed to find the +manuscripts attributed to Rowley, was at one time known as the <i>treasury +house</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> "The chamber over the porch was generally used for the keeping of +books and records belonging to the church. Such an appendage was added +to many churches in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and some of +these old libraries still remain with their books fastened to shelves or desks +by small chains."—<i>Brandon's Gothic Architecture.</i> +</p><p> +Over the porch at Finedon (of which we give an engraving) is a parvise +in which is contained a valuable library of about 1000 volumes, placed there +by Sir John English Dolben, Bart., A.D. 1788. At St. Peter's-in-the-East, +Oxford, and many other places, are similar libraries.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> These were probably small chantries. It is comparatively seldom that +any vestige of the altar remains; but the credence and piscina—certain +proofs of the previous existence of the altar—are very commonly found.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> "The custom of teaching children in the porch is of very early origin; +it is distinctly mentioned by Matthew Paris in the time of Henry III."—<i>Glossary +of Architecture.</i> +</p><p> +After the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., in which reigns all +chantries were suppressed, the children were promoted from the porch to +the parvise.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> "Above the groining of the porch is a parvise, accessible by a turret-stair, +having two Norman window-openings, unglazed, and a straight-gabled +niche between them on the outside. In former days this chamber was constantly +inhabited by one of the sextons, who acted as a watchman, but since +the restoration of the church it has been disused."—<i>Harston's Handbook of +Sherborne Abbey.</i> +</p><p> +In the church accounts of St. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford, A.D. 1488, there +is a charge for a "key to clerk's chamber." This no doubt referred to the +parvise.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> As, a few years ago, at Headcorn in Kent.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> There was frequently, but not always, a window or opening from the +room into the church; and it would seem that it was so placed to enable the +occupant of the room to keep a watchful eye over the interior of the church, +and not for any devotional exercise connected with the altar, as we never +find this window directed obliquely to wards the altar, as is commonly the +case with windows opening from the vestry, or chamber above the vestry, into +the church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Many porches seem originally not to have had doors, but marks exist +which indicate that barriers to keep out cattle were used.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> It is composed of lamp-black, bees'-wax, and tallow, and is commonly +used by shoemakers to give a black polish to the heels of boots.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> These superstitions existed a few years since in connexion with an old +incised slab in the chancel of Christ Church, Caerleon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> "In the year 1657, the adherents of a Preacher of the name of Cam +obtained the grant of the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church, Hull, from +the council of state under the Protectorate, and whilst the mob without were +burning the surplice and the Prayer Book, those within were tearing the +brasses from the grave-stones."—<i>History of Kingston-upon-Hull.</i> +</p><p><br> +<span style="margin-left: 27em;"><i>s.</i> <i>d.</i></span><br> +</p><p><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"1644, April 8th, paid to Master Dowson, that came with</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">the troopers to our church, about the taking down of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">images and brasses off stones 6 0</span><br> +</p><p><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"1644, paid, that day, to others, for taking up the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">brasses of grave-stones before the Officer Dowson came 1 0</span><br> +</p><p><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">—<i>Churchwarden's accounts</i>; <i>Walberswich, Suffolk.</i></span><br> +</p><p> +"This William Dowing (Dowson), it appears, kept a journal of his ecclesiastical +exploits. With reference to the Church of St. Edward's, Cambridge, +he says,— +</p><p> +"'1643, Jan. 1, Edward's Parish, we digged up the steps, and broke down +40 pictures, and took off ten superstitious inscriptions.' +</p><p> +"Mr. Cole, in his MSS., observes,— +</p><p> +"'From this last entry we may clearly see to whom we are obliged for the +dismantling of almost all the grave-stones that had brasses on them, both in +town and country; a sacrilegious, sanctified rascal, that was afraid, or too +proud, to call it <i>St.</i> Edward's Church, but not ashamed to rob the dead of their +honours, and the church of its ornaments.—W. C.'"—<i>Burn's Parish Registers.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> The very interesting brasses in Chartham Church, Kent, were found a +few years since as here described, by the present rector, and replaced by him +on the chancel pavement.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> "Manual of Monumental Brasses," vol. i. p. 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> "If any one will lay the portrait of Lord Bristol (in Mr. Gage Rokewode's +<i>Thingoe Hundred</i>) by the side of the sepulchral brass of the Abbess of Elstow +(from whom he is collaterally descended) figured in Fisher's <i>Bedfordshire +Antiquities</i>, he cannot but be struck by the strong likeness between the +two faces. This is valuable evidence on the disputed point whether +portraits were attempted in sepulchral brasses."—<i>Notes and Queries.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> See page <a href="#THE_PAVEMENT-viii">77</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> See page <a href="#THE_PAVEMENT-ix">85</a>. [The engravings of sepulchral brasses and of stained +glass windows are kindly supplied by the Editor of the <i>Penny Post</i>.]</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> See page <a href="#THE_PAVEMENT">67</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> <i>Hamlet</i>, Act i. Sc. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Monumental slabs of this description are most common on the pavement +of churches in the midland counties.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> This is the case in Ely Cathedral.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> At Bawsey, Lynn; Droitwich; Great Malvern; and recently near +Smithfield, London, when excavating for the subterranean railway.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Thus translated in the <i>Gentleman's Magazine</i> for October, 1833:— +</p></div> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"> "Think, man, thy life</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> But that thou keepest</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> May not ever endure,</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> Unto thy executor's care,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> That thou dost thyself</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> If ever it avail thee</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> Of that thou art sure;</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> It is but chance."</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> "Anno 1210. Let the Abbot of Beaubec (in Normandy), who has for +a long time allowed his monk to construct, for persons who do not belong +to the order, pavements, which exhibit levity and curiosity, be in slight +penance for three days, the last of them on bread and water; and let the +monk be recalled before the feast of All Saints, and never again be lent, +excepting to persons of our order, with whom let him not presume to construct +pavements which do not extend the dignity of the order."—Martini's +<i>Thesaurus Anecdotorum</i>.—Extracted from Oldham's "Irish Pavement +Tiles."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Specially in Normandy, where they are occasionally found under trefoil +canopies, resembling our sepulchral brasses.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Some excellent coloured engravings for cottage walls, of a large size, +have been published by Messrs. Remington, under the direction of the Rev. +J. W. Burgon, of Oriel College, Oxford. Others, both large and small, +suitable for this purpose, are published by the Society for Promoting +Christian Knowledge, and also by several other publishers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> These wall paintings exist (or did till recently) on the outside of a +church at High Wycombe. They are curious, and very grotesque; no +doubt, however, in their day they have served a good and useful +purpose.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> These mural paintings still remain, as here described, on the north wall +of the chancel of Chalgrove Church, Oxon. There are also on the east and +south walls of the chancel of the same church, many other paintings possessing +great interest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> A very interesting mural painting, of which the above is a copy, has been +lately discovered in a recess in the north wall of the nave of Bedfont Church. +The colour is exceedingly rich and well preserved. The painting measures +4 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft., and is supposed to be of the thirteenth century. It represents +the Last Judgment. Our Lord is sitting on His Throne, showing the +five wounds. On the right hand is an angel showing the Cross, on the left an +angel with a spear. Four nails are represented near the head of our Lord. +In the lower part of the painting are two angels holding trumpets, and below +them three persons rising out of the tomb. +</p><p> +It is probable that the interior of almost every old church in the country has +at some time been decorated with wall-paintings—very many of them have +been brought to light in recent works of church restoration. The favourite +subjects were representations of Heaven and Hell, and of the Day +of Judgment. In many cathedrals and some parish churches the <i>Dance +of Death</i> was painted on the walls. This was one of the most popular +religious plays about four centuries ago.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> No doubt the earliest church walls were made of wood. Greenstead +Church, in Essex, affords a most interesting example of these old wooden +walls.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Roman bricks are generally easy to be distinguished from others by +their colour and shape. They were not all made in moulds of the same +size, as we now make bricks, and on this account we find them to vary +much in size and form.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> As at Crowmarsh, Oxfordshire, of which an engraving is given.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> At Godmersham, Kent.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> It is certain that many of the splendid yew-trees in our old churchyards +are far older than the churches themselves. And it is more than probable +that in many instances they mark the places where heathen rites were once +celebrated. It was natural for our Christian forefathers to select these spots +as places of worship, since, being held sacred by the heathen people around +them, they would be regarded by them with reverence and respect, and thus +the cross which they reared, and the dead which they buried beneath the wide-spreading +branches of these old trees would be preserved from desecration.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> These styles are now frequently called <i>first</i>, <i>second</i>, and <i>third pointed</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> "The glass windows in a church are Holy Scriptures, which expel the +wind and the rain, that is, all things hurtful, but transmit the light of the +True Sun, that is, God, into the hearts of the faithful. These are wider +within than without, because the mystical sense is the more ample, and precedeth +the literal meaning. Also, by the windows the senses of the body +are signified: which ought to be shut to the vanities of this world, and open +to receive with all freedom spiritual gifts. By the lattice-work of the +windows, we understand the Prophets or other obscure teachers of the +Church Militant: in which windows there are often two shafts, signifying +the two precepts of charity, or because the Apostles were sent out to preach +two and two."—<i>Durandus on Symbolism.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Stained glass is said to have been first used in churches in the twelfth +century. Windows were at first filled with thin slices of talc or alabaster, +or sometimes vellum. As the monks spent much time in illuminating their +vellum MSS., it has been thought likely that they also painted on the +vellum used in the windows of their monasteries, and that afterwards, on +the introduction of glass, their vellum illuminations suggested their glass +painting.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> At Brabourne, Kent, is a Norman window filled with stained glass of +the period, which is still quite perfect.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> "One who calls himself John Dowsing, and, by virtue of a pretended +commission, goes about ye country like a Bedlam, breaking glasse windows, +having battered and beaten downe all our painted glasse, not only in our +Chappels, but (contrary to order) in our Publique Schools, Colledge Halls, +Libraries, and Chambers."—Berwick's <i>Querela Cantabrigiensis</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> The rubric in the Service for the Public Baptism of Infants directs the +priest, <i>if the godfathers and godmothers shall certify that the child may well +endure it</i>, to <i>dip it in the water</i>. In the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. +the priest is directed to "<i>dyppe it in the water thryce</i>."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Acts xvi. 15, 33. 1 Cor. i. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> As at Dorchester and Warborough in Oxfordshire, and Brookland in +Kent; each of these have very elaborate mouldings upon them.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> At Llanvair Discoed, Monmouthshire.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> The Font at West Rounton, of which we have given an engraving, is +one of many examples of this. The <i>Centaur</i>, the arrow from whose +bow is just about to pierce the monster, probably represents the Deity conquering +Satan, or perhaps the continual conflict of the baptized Christian +against sin and Satan. The other figure may represent the Divine and +human natures united in our Lord. This exceedingly curious Font was +discovered during the recent restoration of the little Norman Church of +West Rounton, Yorkshire. It was found under the pulpit, of which it +formed the base, having been turned over so that the bowl rested on the +floor, and so carefully plastered that there was no external indication of its +original form. It has now been restored to its former position near the +south-west door of the church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Ezek. iii. 7, 8; ix. 4. Rev. vii. 3; ix. 4; xiii. 16; xiv. 1, 9; xxii. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> βαπτἱζω [baptizô], to baptize, ἁνἁ [ana], again.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> "God planted a garden eastward;" man went westward when he left it; +he turns eastward to remind him of his return. Almost every church in +England is built <i>east and west</i>, with the altar at the east.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Phil. ii. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Canon XVIII. 1603.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> "Many monuments are covered with seates, or pewes, made high and +easie for parishioners to sit or sleepe in, a fashion of no long continuance, +and worthy of reformation."—Weaver's <i>Funeral Monuments</i>. Temp. +James I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> It is likely that the idea of a gallery at the west end of the nave, was +first suggested by the gallery of the Rood Screen at the eastern end.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> At H.... church, Kent, for instance.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Chertsey, Surrey.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> One of the churches in Edinburgh, for instance.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> 2 Chron. vi. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Nehem. viii. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> As at Magdalene College, Oxford. "Formerly, when the annual +sermon was preached on the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist, +from the stone pulpit before the chapel of Magdalene College, Oxford, the +whole area before it was covered with rushes and grass, to represent, it is +said, the wilderness: and doubtless also for the accommodation of the +hearers; the seats being set for the University authorities."—<i>History of +Pues.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Such an one formerly existed near the cathedral of Exeter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> Parker's "Glossary of Architecture," part i. p. 171. At the west end +of Boxley Church, Kent, is a Galilee. There are very few—if any—other +churches in which the ancient <i>Galilee</i> is to be found.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Many of the wooden pulpits have dates upon them. The earliest of +these is A.D. 1590, on a pulpit at Ruthin, Denbighshire.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> "The Churchwardens, at the common charge of the Parishioners in +every parish, shall provide a comely and honest pulpit, to be set in a convenient +place within the Churche, and to be there seemly kept, for the +preaching of God's worde."—<i>Injunctions given by the Queen's Majestie</i>, +1559.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> It seems most probable that the last of these was the real object. In +some old discourses the following phrase is met with:—"Let us now take +another <i>glass</i>," meaning another period of time to be measured by the hour-glass: +and the preacher reversed the glass at this point. Ancient hour-glasses +remain in the church of St. Alban's, Wood Street, City; and at +Cowden, Kent. The iron frames of hour-glasses still remain in the churches +of Stoke Dabernoun, Surrey; Odell, Bedfordshire; St. John's, Bristol; +Cliff, Kent; and Erdingthorpe, Norfolk, and doubtless others are to be +found elsewhere. The Queen has lately presented an hour-glass of the +measure of eighteen minutes for the pulpit of the chapel royal in the Savoy, +to replace the old one, which was destroyed in the recent fire.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Some few of these sounding-boards are, however, very handsome. At +Newcastle there is, or lately was, a sounding-board which was a representation +of the spire of the church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> <i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, vol. 1. p. 364. Preaching-Crosses are also at +Hereford, near the Friary of the Dominican (or Preaching) Friars; and in +the churchyards of Iron Acton, Gloucestershire, and Rampisham, Dorsetshire.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> See a curious letter on this subject in the <i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, +vol. 1. p. 527.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> See Walker's "Sufferings of the Clergy," p. 310.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> S. Luke vi. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> The Vicar of the church here referred to has lately deceased, and his +successor has commenced the much needed improvements. The Vicar's +good daughter, who was quite a <i>sister of mercy</i> in the parish, is not likely +to be forgotten, though the old pew has gone. A beautiful window of +stained glass has been erected to her memory by the parishioners.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> This phase of the pew system is not over coloured. A few years since, +a pew in the nave of Old Swinford Church was so nailed up; but other +instances of this might be mentioned.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> James ii. 1-4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> James ii. 5, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Sermon by the Rev. E. Stuart, preached at the Church of St. Mary +Magdalene, Munster Square, London.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> 2 Cor. viii. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Much information on this subject can be obtained from "The History +of Pues: a Paper read before the Cambridge Camden Society, November +22, 1841."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> Stone seats were often placed round the bases of the columns of the nave; +examples are at St. Margaret-at-Cliffe, and Challock, in Kent.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> <i>British Critic</i>; see <i>History of Pues</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> +<p>"'1612, 27 May.—Ye Ch. Wardens meeting together for seekeing <br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">for workmen to mak a fitt seete in a convennent<br></span> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">place for brydgrumes, bryds, and<br></span> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">sike wyves to sit in ij<i>s</i>.<br></span> +</p></div> + +<p>—<i>Extract from Parochial Books of Chester-le-Street, Durham.</i> +</p> +<p>"It is plain that at this period the privilege of a separate pew was confined +to persons of the first rank; the rest sat promiscuously on forms in the +body of the church, and the privilege is here extended only to sick wives +and brides, who sat to hear the preacher deliver 'The Bride's Bush,' or +'The Wedding Garment beautified.'"—Surtees' <i>Hist. of Durham</i>.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> Blomfield's <i>Norfolk</i>, vi. 317.</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> "Several congregations find themselves already very much straitened; +and if the mode increases, I wish it may not drive many ordinary women into +meetings and conventicles. Should our sex at the same time take it +into their heads to wear trunk breeches, a man and his wife would fill a +whole pew."—<i>Satire on Female Costume.</i> <i>Spectator</i>, No. 127. +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"At church in silks and satins new,<br></span> +<span class="i1">And hoop of monstrous size;<br></span> +<span class="i0">She never slumber'd in her pew<br></span> +<span class="i1">But when she shut her eyes."—<i>Goldsmith.</i><br></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"He found him mounted in his pew,<br></span> +<span class="i0">With books and money placed for shew."<br></span> +<br> +<span class="i0"><i>The Lawyer's Pew</i>, Butler's <i>Hudibras</i>.<br></span> +<br> +<span class="i0">"A bedstead of the antique mode,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Compact of timber many a load,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Such as our ancestors did use,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Was metamorphosed into pews;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Which still their ancient nature keep<br></span> +<span class="i0">By lodging folks disposed to sleep."<br></span> +<span class="i0">Swift's <i>Baucis and Philemon</i>.<br></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> <i>European Magazine</i>, 1813.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> <i>History of Pues</i>, p. 77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> "1617. Barnham <i>contra</i> Hayward Puellam.—Presentatur—for that she +being but a young maid sat in ye pew with her mother, to ye great offence +of many reverent women: howbeit that after I Peter Lewis the Vicar had +in the church privately admonished her to sit at her mother's pew-door, she +obeyed; but now she sits with her mother again."—<i>God's Acre</i>, by Mrs. +Stone.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> Whittaker's <i>Whalley</i>, p. 228.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> "We have also heard that the parishioners of divers places do oftentimes +wrangle about their seats in church, two or more claiming the same +seat, whence arises great scandal to the Church, and the divine officers are +sore set and hindered; wherefore we decree that none shall henceforth call +any seat in the church his own, save noblemen and patrons: but he who +shall first enter shall take his place where he will."—Quivil, Bishop of +Exeter, A.D. 1287.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> In the vestry of the church of East Moulsey is suspended a map of +considerable size, showing the land that has been left to the parish for the +sustentation of the church. The land ought to produce 120<i>l.</i> +but some years since the parishioners engaged in a law-suit respecting a pew +in the church, and lost the suit, and the income from the charity land was +year by year absorbed in the payment of the debt then incurred. One evidence +brought forward to prove the faculty was the following inscription, +which is still (or was till lately) <i>over the altar</i>, painted at the foot of a <i>daub</i>, +having the Ten Commandments surrounded by drapery, &c.:— +</p><p> +"In lieu of the Commandments formerly written on the wall (when by<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">consent of the parish he made his pew) these tables were placed</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">here by—Mr. Benson, <span class="smcap">MDCCXII.</span>"</span></p><br> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> <i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, A.D. 1780, p. 364.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> We are so used to speak of the <i>seats</i> in church, that we commonly forget +the more proper appellation of <i>kneeling</i>. This, however, was not always so. +An old metal plate formerly on a pew in a church in the diocese of +Oxford, has this inscription:— +</p><p> +"No 83. Vicar and Churchwardens, two kneelings. Trustees of Poor +House three kneelings."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> See <i>History of Pues</i>, p. 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Item. Paid to good wyfe Wells for salt to destroy the fleas in the <i>Churchwardens' Pew</i></td><td align="left"><i>d.</i><br>vi.</td></tr> +</table></div> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><i>St. Margaret's Accounts.</i> <i>Dublin Review</i>, xiii.</span><br> +</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> So called, as some suppose, because it could be <i>folded</i> and removed +when necessary.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> Joel ii. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Injunctions of Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> See <i>Wheatly on the Common Prayer</i>, p. 161.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> "The earliest examples remaining are of wood, many of them beautifully +carved, as at Bury and Ramsay, Huntingdonshire; Swancombe, +Debtling, and Lenham, Kent; Newport, Essex; Hawstead, Suffolk."—Parker's +<i>Glossary</i>. +</p><p> +There are beautiful examples of brass lecterns at Magdalene and Merton +Colleges, Oxford, in most of our cathedrals, and many parish churches.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Derived from the French <i>aile</i>, a wing. It is no uncommon thing to +hear persons who ought to know better talk about <i>side</i> aisles, as if there +were any other than side aisles.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> Derived from the Greek, ἁγιος [hagios], holy, and σκοπἑω [skopeô], to view. There +are very good specimens at St. Clement's, Sandwich, and at St. Mary's, +Gloucester. The latter has three compartments.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> In some few churches—as at Rottingdean, Sussex—the chancel, by +the deviation of its north or south wall from the line of the nave, represent +the inclined head of our Lord upon the cross.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> The German word for piscina is Wasserhälter, <i>water-holder</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Derived from the Italian <i>credenzare</i>, to test by tasting beforehand; which +refers to an ancient custom for the governor of a feast to taste the wines +before presenting them to his guests. The application of the word to this +piece of Church furniture is supposed to have its origin in an attempt once +made to mix poison with the eucharistic elements.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> The rubric at the commencement of the Prayer Book concerning "the +Ornaments of the Church, and of the ministers thereof," still directs a +credence-table to be placed in every church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> In Flamborough Church, Yorkshire, a few years since, a white glove +was hanging over the centre arch of the very beautiful chancel screen,—perhaps +is hanging there still. Sometimes a bridal wreath was hung up +with the glove.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> When the rood screens were pulled down by the Puritans and the +chancels were alienated from their proper use, it became necessary, in order +to protect the immediate precinct of the altar from general intrusion, to +erect around it some barrier; hence the origin of altar-rails, which were +first ordered to be put up by Archbishop Laud. There are a few instances +of ancient screens of considerable height immediately surrounding the +altar.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> As in Bottisham Church, Cambridge; Westwell, Kent; and most of our +cathedrals.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Such galleries existed in the parish churches of Whitby, Yorkshire, and +of Sandon, Staffordshire, a few years ago, but these have probably been +since removed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> Rood is analogous to our common word <i>rod</i>. It is a Saxon word, and +means a cross.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> It is a question whether the order in the canons for placing the Commandments +in churches was intended to be other than temporary. At the +time few comparatively had Bibles or Prayer Books, so there was then +a reason for the order, which no longer exists. One of many churches +in which the Commandments were painted at an early date over the chancel +arch, is Fordwich, Kent; the date is 1688. At Dimchurch, in Kent, there +is an old painting of the Commandments over the chancel arch, and a +modern one over the altar.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> As at C.... Church, Kent.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> "<i>Cancellæ</i> are lattice-work, by which the chancels being formerly parted +from the body of the church they took their names from thence. Hence, +too, the Court of <i>Chancery</i> and the Lord <i>Chancellor</i> borrowed their names, +that court being enclosed with open-work of that kind. And so to <i>cancel</i> +a writing is to cross it out with the pen, which naturally makes something +like the figure of a lattice."—Pegge's <i>Anonymiana</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> Some of our chancels, however, were originally made considerably +<i>lower</i> than the nave. When the church has been built on a slope it has +sometimes followed the fall of the ground from west to east.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> So called from the Latin word <i>sedes</i>, a seat. This position, on the south +side of the altar, is in all respects the most convenient for the clergy when +not officiating. To sit <i>facing</i> the people is a most painful position for the +priest, as the eyes of all the congregation naturally rest upon him; it has, +too, the <i>appearance</i> of irreverence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> <a href="#Pg_223">See p. 223</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> <a href="#Pg_223">See p. 223.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> This word is tautological, derived from our common word <i>rere</i>, back, +and the French <i>dos</i>, back, from its position at the back of the altar. Many +of these altar-screens have in recent years been restored at immense cost, +as at Ely Cathedral.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> In Braburn Church, Kent, an altar-tomb, with armorial bearings around +and above it, occupies the very place of the altar itself. In the church of +Prendergast, South Wales, large marble slabs with elaborate epitaphs +occupy the <i>entire</i> east end of the chancel. The most prominent of these—immediately +over the altar—records that the departed "had learned by +heart the whole Book of Psalms, and all the Collects of the Book of Common +Prayer, with twenty-four chapters of the Old and New Testaments, +before she was thirteen years old, and several more after" However +praiseworthy and marvellous these accomplishments, this is surely no fitting +place for proclaiming them!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> It is probable that the prayers and the sermon were formerly read from +the same lectern. The first authoritative document of which we have +record in which mention is made of the <i>prayer desk</i>, is the Visitation +Articles of the Bishop of Norwich (Parker), in <span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 1569. +</p><p> +In the parish accounts of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, is an item in 1577 for +"colouring the Curate's desk." But prayer desks were used at a much +earlier time.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> So called from the Latin word <i>almarium</i>, a closet or locker. The +almery had many uses, and is to be found in all parts of the church, but +chiefly in the chancel. Sometimes it was used to hold the priest's vestments; +and in conventual churches, to hold the gold and silver vessels +belonging to the monastery.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> Gen. viii. 20; xii 7; xxxv. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> Exod. xxvii. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> The Council of Epaone in France (A.D. 509) ordered that none but +<i>altars of stone</i> should be <i>consecrated with chrism</i>. The custom of consecrating +the altar with chrism is supposed to symbolize the anointing of our +Lord's Body for the burial.—See <i>The Stone Altar</i>, by Rev. J. Blackburn, +p. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> Rev. vi. 9-11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> "A type both of the womb and of the tomb."—<i>The Stone Altar</i>, p. 41.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> 1 Cor. x. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> See "Prayer for the Church Militant."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> Queen Elizabeth's <i>Advertisements</i>, A.D. 1564, require "that the Parish +provide a decent <span class="smcap">TABLE</span>, <i>standing on a frame</i>, for the Communion Table." +Hence it appears that by the word <i>table</i> at the era of the English Reformation, +the <i>slab</i> only was meant.—Parker's <i>Glossary</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> Matt xxvii. 66.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> "The seal of the altar—that is, the little stone by which the sepulchre +or cavity in which the relics be deposited, is closed or sealed."—<i>Durandus</i>, +p. 128.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> As at St. Mary's Hospital, Ripon. These ancient stone altars may +always be known by the <i>five crosses</i> on the table, emblematic of the five +wounds of Jesus. Not infrequently, alas! this slab is to be found as part +of the church flooring. The altar table of Norwich Cathedral is (or was +lately) to be seen in the floor of the nave.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> "Have you a Communion Table with a handsome carpet or covering +of silk stuff, or such like?"—<i>Visitation Articles</i>, Bishop Bridges, 1634. +</p><p> +"Have you a carpet of silk, satin, damask, or some more than ordinary +stuff to cover the Table with at all times?"—<i>Visitation Articles</i>, Bishop +Montague, 1639.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> The pall is an archiepiscopal vestment, forming at the back a figure +like the letter Y, as seen on the armorial bearings of our archbishops.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> "All Deans, Archdeacons, Parsons, Vicars, and other Ecclesiastical +persons shall suffer from henceforth no torches nor candles, tapers, or images +of wax to be set before any image or picture. But only two lights upon the +high altar (the only altar now retained in our Church) before the Sacrament, +which, for the signification that Christ is the true Light of the World, they +shall suffer to remain still."—<i>Injunctions of King Edward VI.</i> +</p><p> +"And here it is to be noted, that such ornaments of the Church and of +the ministers thereof, at all times of their ministration, shall be retained and +be in use, as were in this Church of England by the authority of Parliament +in the second year of the reign of <i>King Edward the Sixth</i>."—<i>Rubric before +morning Prayer.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> Durandus, who wrote about A.D. 1290, says, "At the horns of the +altar <i>two</i> candlesticks are placed to signify the joy of Jews and Gentiles at +the Nativity of Christ." +</p><p> +In the Sassetti Chapel at Florence is a beautiful fresco painting, by +Ghirlandaio (A.D. 1485), representing the death of St. Francis. The +painting, which has been copied by the Arundel Society, has all the character +of a really historical work, and is particularly interesting as representing an +altar with the <i>two</i> candlesticks upon it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> Ps. cviii, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> 2 Chron. v. 11-14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> Organs appear to have been used at a very early period, and some have +thought that allusions to them are to be found in the Psalms of David; but +till the commencement of the last century they were probably used in very +few country churches. In cathedrals the organ was sometimes placed in +the clerestory; its position over the choir screen is in every respect most +objectionable.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> <i>Vestry</i>, so called because it is the place where the vestments of the +priests and their assistants are kept. It is also called the <i>sacristy</i>, because +the <i>sacred</i> vessels and other furniture for use at the altar are kept there. +The keeper of the vestry is properly called the <i>sacristan</i>. This word has +now degenerated to <i>sexton</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> Some of the subterranean and other small chambers in churches, +supposed to be chantries or mortuary chapels, have probably been used as +vestries. The following is extracted from Neal and Webb's edition of +<i>Durandus</i>:—"On eache side of this chancelle peradventure (for so fitteth +it beste) should stand a turret; as it were for two ears, and in these the +belles to be hanged, to calle the people to service, by daie and by night. +Undre one of these turrets is there commonly a vaulte, whose doore openeth +into the quiere, and in this are laid up the hallowed vesselles, and ornamentes, +and other utensils of the churche. We call it a vestrie."—<i>Fardle +of Facions.</i> Printed 1555.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> Early examples of these chests for containing the parish records may +be found in most old churches. Frequently they are of very rude design, +and the box is formed of a single block of wood strongly bound with iron +hoops. Sometimes, however, they are richly carved, as in the churches of +Clymping, Sussex; Luton, Bedfordshire; and Faversham, Kent. The +proper place for the parish chest is the vestry, but it is not unfrequently to +be found in some other part of the church. We often meet with several +large chests of common deal in various parts of the church containing +useless papers and other rubbish. The sooner these are swept away the +better.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> See pages <a href="#THE_PAVEMENT-ix">85 and 86</a> for a description of some of these vestments.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> It is <i>always lawful</i>, and almost always desirable, to hold "vestry" meetings +in some hall or room in the parish, and <i>not in the church vestry</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> Eph. ii. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> Pugin's <i>True Principles of Architecture</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> <i>Durandus.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> 1 Pet. ii. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_175_175" id="Footnote_175_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> Col. iii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_176_176" id="Footnote_176_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> John x. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_177_177" id="Footnote_177_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> Jer. xxii. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_178_178" id="Footnote_178_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> Most persons know—at least from engravings—the famous "Apprentice +Column" in Roslin Chapel. That was perhaps the first church pillar that +ever was wreathed with flowers, and those stone flowers are as fresh and +beautiful now as when they were carved five hundred years ago.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_179_179" id="Footnote_179_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> This old custom of copying in stone or marble the surrounding objects +of nature has been imitated on the capitals of pillars in the church of St. +Mary, Devon, which has recently been so beautifully restored in memory of +the late Bishop of Exeter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_180_180" id="Footnote_180_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> Acts xiv. 13. Virgil, <i>Æneid</i>, i. 417; ii. 249.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_181_181" id="Footnote_181_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> 1 Cor. xv. 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_182_182" id="Footnote_182_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> Isa. lx. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_183_183" id="Footnote_183_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> Mark xiv. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_184_184" id="Footnote_184_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> This word, formerly spelt <i>clear story</i>, plainly expresses its own meaning—a +clear or separate story or flight of windows. They are placed between +the roof and the nave arches of a church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_185_185" id="Footnote_185_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> The word corbel, French <i>corbeille</i>, means literally a large flat basket. +It is curious to note how the word obtains its present use in architecture. +After the destruction of the city of Caryæ in Arcadia by the Greeks, +Praxiteles, and other Athenian artists, employed female figures, instead of +columns, in architecture, to commemorate the disgrace of the Caryatides, +or women of Caryæ (see Dr. Smith's Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities, +<i>Caryatis</i>). These figures were always represented with corbels or baskets on +their heads. The basket, being thus placed between the head of the figure +and the roof, was that which <i>immediately</i> supported the roof. Hence those +projecting pieces of stone or wood which support the roofs of our churches, +as well as other buildings, have received the name of corbels. <i>Caryatides</i> +may be seen on the north and south sides of New St. Pancras Church, +London—a church which externally possesses all the appearances of a +heathen temple, and few of a Christian church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_186_186" id="Footnote_186_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> Although the carved roofs of this period cannot compare in point of +elegance and beauty with those of an earlier date, yet, for the abundance of +rich and elaborate detail in wood-carving (oak and walnut), no period +equalled this. The bench-ends, screens, rood-screens, tombs of wood at +this time were exquisitely beautiful. The roofs, however, were too flat, and +externally they were concealed altogether by parapets.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_187_187" id="Footnote_187_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> In some chancels the idea of the keel of a ship is fully carried out, the +walls widening as they ascend.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_188_188" id="Footnote_188_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> The flat roofs well suited the heathen worship of ancient Greece and +Rome, where the object of worship was shut up within the walls of the +temple itself. It is far different with us, who worship a Deity who, though +specially present there, is "not <i>confined</i> to temples made with hands."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_189_189" id="Footnote_189_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> Wordsworth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_190_190" id="Footnote_190_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> See the <i>Builder</i>, Jan. 29, 1865, "The Roof and the Spire."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_191_191" id="Footnote_191_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> So called from the <i>triple form</i> of the arches it most commonly has.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_192_192" id="Footnote_192_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> See Parker's <i>Glossary</i>, "Triforium;" and Hook's <i>Church Dictionary</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_193_193" id="Footnote_193_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> It is probable that all Norman towers originally had low-pointed roofs +covered with tiles (as at Sompting, Essex); tower roofs of this period with +gable-ends are also sometimes to be found.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_194_194" id="Footnote_194_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> Chiefly in Norfolk and Suffolk. Of these the round towers of Little +Saxham and Brixham are perhaps the most interesting.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_195_195" id="Footnote_195_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> There are several instances, however, in England of bell-towers standing +detached from the church, as the beautiful tower at Evesham, Worcestershire, +and the curious belfry at Brookland in Kent.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_196_196" id="Footnote_196_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> Evidences of these priests' chambers exist throughout England: there +are instances at Challock, Sheldwich, and Brook in Kent. In the last +mentioned are the remains of an altar, with a portion of the original rude +painting above it still remaining.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_197_197" id="Footnote_197_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> Bells are said to have been introduced into the Christian Church by +Paulinus; Bishop of Nola, at the end of the fourth century. The first peal +of bells in England was put up in Croyland Abbey, about <span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 870.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_198_198" id="Footnote_198_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> "When they heard the bell of the chapel of Isabella sounding through +the forests as it rung for mass, and beheld the Spaniards hastening to wards +the chapel, they imagined that it <i>talked</i>."—Irving's <i>Life of Columbus</i>, ch. iv. +</p><p> +The office of the church bell in summoning the people to prayer and holy +worship was regarded in olden times with such respect that the bell was +very solemnly set apart by a special religious service for this sacred use. +</p><p> +In the churchwarden's accounts of St. Lawrence, Reading, is the following +curious entry:— +</p><p> +"1449. It payed for halowing of the bell named Harry, vj<i>s</i>. viij<i>d</i>., and +over that, Sir William Symys, Richard Cleck, and Maistres Smyth, being +Godfaders and Godmoder at the consecraycyon of the same bell, and beryng +all oth' costs to the suffrygan."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_199_199" id="Footnote_199_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> Kirke White.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_200_200" id="Footnote_200_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> In the last century it was a favourite custom with village bellringers +to set forth their rules in verse. They were generally painted on a board +and fixed in the belfry. In all cases the rhyme appears to be the production +of native talent. The rules are themselves unexceptionable. The +following are examples:— +</p><p> +In the belfry, Charlwood,— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ye men of action, strength, and skill,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Observe these rules which I do will:<br></span> +<span class="i0">First,—Let none presume to swear,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Nor e'er profane the house of Prayer.<br></span> +<span class="i0">Next,—He that doth a bell o'erthrow<br></span> +<span class="i0">A groat shall forfeit where'er he go;<br></span> +<span class="i0">And if he do refuse to pay,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Be scorn'd, and simply go his way,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Like one who will for ever wrangle<br></span> +<span class="i0">As touching of a rope to jangle."<br></span> +</div></div> +<p> +In the belfry, Bredgar,— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"My friendly ringers, I do declare<br></span> +<span class="i0">You must pay one penny each oath you do swear.<br></span> +<span class="i0">To turn a bell over<br></span> +<span class="i0">It is the same fare;<br></span> +<span class="i0">To ring with your hats on you must not dare.<br></span> +<span class="i11">"MDCCLI."<br></span> +</div></div> +<p> +In the belfry, All Saints', Hastings,— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"This is a belfry that is free<br></span> +<span class="i0">For all those that civil be;<br></span> +<span class="i0">And if you please to chime or ring,<br></span> +<span class="i0">It is a very pleasant thing.<br></span> +<span class="i0">There is no music play'd or sung<br></span> +<span class="i0">Like unto bells when they're well rung;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Then ring your bells well if you can;<br></span> +<span class="i0">Silence is best for every man.<br></span> +<span class="i0">But if you ring in spur or hat<br></span> +<span class="i0">Sixpence you pay, be sure of that;<br></span> +<span class="i0">And if a bell you overthrow<br></span> +<span class="i0">Pray pay a groat before you go.<br></span> +<span class="i11">"1756."<br></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_201_201" id="Footnote_201_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> In the preface to the Prayer Book the curate is directed to "cause a +bell to be tolled" for morning and evening prayer; but Durandus says that +this ringing of the bell was itself once part of the minister's own duty.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_202_202" id="Footnote_202_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> At Cairnwent, in Wales, the parish clerk "used often to knock a bit +or two from one of the bells when any one wanted a bit of metal." In a +neighbouring church two bells were taken down and sold to pay for the +<i>ceiling of the roof</i>. Many church bells in England have, alas! met with as +sad a fate. The same parsimony which has sacrificed the bells has, in many +cases, not spared the belfry. It seems hardly credible—but it is true—that +some years ago, at St. Bride's, Monmouthshire, there being no ladder in +the village long enough to reach the top of the tower, <i>the tower was lowered +to meet the length of the ladder</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_203_203" id="Footnote_203_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> The following are a few examples taken from village church bells in +Wales. At Nevern,— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I to the church the living call,<br></span> +<span class="i0">And to the grav do summon al.—1763."<br></span> +</div></div> +<p> +At Llandyssil,— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"Come at my call,<br></span> +<span class="i5">Serve God, all.—1777."<br></span> +<span class="i0">"Fear God, honour the king.—1777."<br></span> +</div></div> +<p>At Llangattock,—</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Be peaceful and good neighbours."<br></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_204_204" id="Footnote_204_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> Such as:—on six bells at Northfield Church,— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">1st. "We now are six, tho' once but five,"<br></span> +<span class="i0">2nd. "But against our casting some did strive;"<br></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">3rd. "But when a day for meeting they did fix,"<br></span> +<span class="i0">4th. "There appear'd but nine against twenty-six:"<br></span> +<span class="i0">5th. "Thomas Kettle and William Jervis did contrive"<br></span> +<span class="i0">6th. "To make us six that were but five."<br></span> +</div></div> +<p> +At Tamworth,— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Be it known to all that doth me see,<br></span> +<span class="i0">That Newcombe, of Leicester, made mee.—1607."<br></span> +</div></div> +<p> +At Nevern,— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Thomas Rudall<br></span> +<span class="i0">Cast us all.—1763.'<br></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_205_205" id="Footnote_205_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> Durandus, "Of Bells."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_206_206" id="Footnote_206_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> Ps. xcii. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_207_207" id="Footnote_207_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> 2 Cor. v. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_208_208" id="Footnote_208_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> Heb. ix. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_209_209" id="Footnote_209_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> Eph. ii. 20-22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_210_210" id="Footnote_210_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> Isa. xxviii. 16. 1 Pet. ii. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_211_211" id="Footnote_211_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> Ps. cxviii. 22. Matt. xxi. 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_212_212" id="Footnote_212_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> Eph. ii. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_213_213" id="Footnote_213_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> 1 Pet. ii. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_214_214" id="Footnote_214_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> 2 Cor. vi. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_215_215" id="Footnote_215_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> S. James ii. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_216_216" id="Footnote_216_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> Col. iii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_217_217" id="Footnote_217_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> Ezek. xiii. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_218_218" id="Footnote_218_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> Ps. cxxvii. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_219_219" id="Footnote_219_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> Rom. ii. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_220_220" id="Footnote_220_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> Rev. iv. 8; v. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_221_221" id="Footnote_221_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> In the parish registry of Dymock, in Gloucestershire, is the following +entry:—"Buried: John Murrel, aged 89 years. Thomas Bannister, aged +13 years." To which is appended the following note: "John Murrel and +Thomas Bannister died nearly at the same moment, though the latter was in +apparent good health. He had always attended upon Murrel, who was +much given to prayer, and being by his bed at the time, Murrel, in his last +struggle, extended his hand to him, when both instantly expired."</p></div> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stones of the Temple, by Walter Field + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STONES OF THE TEMPLE *** + +***** This file should be named 37958-h.htm or 37958-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/9/5/37958/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Hazel Batey and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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